When I woke up the next morning I just lay there, thinking about being single and free...and not entirely happy. My ecstatic buzz from breaking up with Landon and losing all the stress that came with it had worn off, though I was still in a good mood it wasn't nearly as powerful. So I bounded out of bed, got dressed and headed downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast. Blade was nowhere to be seen but that wasn't entirely unusual and I still felt him around, though he didn't come find me. So I ate a quick breakfast and darted back upstairs to my room to brush my teeth and grab my things for school. By the time I emerged, Blade was there in the hall, already headed down to drive me.
Perfect timing.
I adjusted my bag on my shoulders, and jogged up behind him, favoring my good leg to leap up and onto his back, locking my arms around him. To my credit, I only winced a little when the impact jostled my stitched leg. Not a great idea to be running and jumping, but him carrying me the rest of the long way downstairs to the car was well worth it.
"I thought Jordan told you not to run because of your stitches," Blade mused, not the least bit fazed as he hooked his hands under the backs of my knees to support my weight.
"He said not to do too much and jogging a few steps down the hall is hardly exerting myself," I said, dropping my chin onto his shoulder. What a wonder to be able to touch him without feeling a constant onslaught of crushing guilt because of Landon. "Besides, you carrying me means I get to rest more, right? So I'm actually following Jordan's orders better than you are."
"Sure you are," he said, squeezing my thighs tight as he sped off downstairs in record time. As I carefully slid off his back and we got into his car he continued. "You know, you've been in a really good mood since yesterday afternoon and it's kind of freaking me out."
"I'm just happy. What's wrong with that?"
"You finished your period, maybe that's why."
"Oh shut up. I finished that days ago so that can't be it. And stop creeping on my cycle. It's weird."
"Or maybe it just takes a few days for you to stop being all psycho and hormonal."
At least he didn't deny the weird comment.
"Keep shooting comments like that and I might just go back to being psycho without the excuse of being hormonal."
"Oh come on, you're telling me the reason you've been avoiding me all this time was because you were hormonal?" he asked, annoyance clouding his voice now.
Shit. "You noticed?"
"Of course I noticed. And I also noticed that it was after Friday night that you started ignoring me," he said, with an exasperated puff of air. "So why the fuck do you keep doing that? We kissed. You enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. What's the problem?"
"Because of Landon? Because it was cheating? Because cheating is bad? Do I need to take you back to childhood ethics class or what?"
He waved my argument away. "The guy is hardly a saint himself. He has no right to complain for something he used to do. Fucking hypocrite."
"That still doesn't make it okay. And that's not the kind of person I want to be either."
I would admit that the whole bond and blood drinking thing had certainly skewed things, made my self control practically non-existent, but I was sure that if none of that had been involved I wouldn't have cracked, even if there might have been close call. Not that that was all that much better, but it would saved Landon more heart ache and me from my guilt. Even without our bond or him drinking from me, there was something there and I was still to blame.
"If you feel that guilty about it, then dump Landon's ass already so that way when it happens again you won't feel so bad."
When it happens again. Not if. My, my, he sure was confident, was he?
He probably wasn't wrong, but still.
Lucky for me, with Blade's excessive speeding we were already rounding up to the front gate of school, which meant I could finally torture him a little like he'd been torturing me the last few months.
"You know, Blade," I said as I undid my seatbelt and gathered my bag, ready to make a break for it as soon as he stopped the car by the curb. "I already did."
As he turned to reply, confusion knotting his brow, I leaned towards him, pecked him on the lips, and leapt out of the car like it was about to explode, and sprinted away, to hell with my stitches.
"Holy shit." Wheezy laughter bubbled out of me. Who knew kissing Blade and getting one up on him could be such a rush?
When I was sure he wasn't going to follow, either too confused and stunned or wise enough to know I wouldn't flake on class just to hang out with him, I slowed to a walk. My leg was definitely aching, but it was worth it to see the split second of utter astonishment across his face. If I'd stayed any longer, he would have been all over the topic and would have probably spent a large amount of time trying to convince me to blow off school and do devious things.
I headed to first period Drama, a bit more of a limp to my step than a bounce thanks to all my exertions this morning, but even that couldn't dent my good mood. Things were looking up and I had so much stress off my plate that I'd forgotten what it was like.
"Good morning, sir!" I chirped as I mentally pranced but physically limped passed my teacher's desk.
"Good morning, Kiana," he said, blinking at me in surprise. Probably since he wasn't used to me being in such a good mood as I wasn't usually such a morning person. Though I'd greet and talk to people, I definitely didn't have this kind of chipper energy on a regular basis. Or any basis.
Arriving at my seat, my good mood wavered at the sight of Landon. Mild surprise and a touch of dread hit me, too caught up with this morning to remember that I'd be seeing him first thing after our break-up and I cautiously sat down next to him like usual.
It was one thing for him to say things were okay and we could still be friends in the moment, that's just what people said to be polite. He easily could have changed his mind after he had slept on it, realized I was an evil vindictive bitch who broke his heart, and hate me for the rest of our lives.
But he only looked up and smiled, small and shy, with a soft "hey", and it was a relief.
Any awkwardness between us disappeared after a few minutes of chatting, re-orienting ourselves as our dynamic had once again changed, and we slowly slid back into an easygoing relationship. We were still friends so nothing really changed about us, except now we didn't hold hands or kiss.
The morning passed relatively quickly and then lunch came, and with it, the return of a familiar and famous face.
Jill.
A wave of sickness washed over me at the sight of her. She looked okay, hell she still looked as gorgeous and perfectly done up as she always did, but there was something different about her. Sure she acted the same way, flirting with all the guys who mobbed around her and chatting to the girls and everyone who was asking her questions. Physically, you never would have guessed she'd been attacked and hauled out on a stretcher, soaked in blood, while everyone questioned whether or not she'd survive.
But her eyes...she looked wary. In between conversations, when it lulled or when no one was paying attention to her, her eyes darted around like a prey animal searching for the predator lurking in the shadows. She looked pale and there was a stiffness to her posture that wasn't usually there. I had no idea how she could stomach coming back here after what happened. You couldn't pay me to come back to the place where I nearly died, especially not every single day for school of all things.
I veered off my path to my usual table where my friends sat and beelined for Jill. We might not have been friends, but it was my fault she got mauled even if she didn't necessarily know that. The least I could do was see if she was really okay. It'd been almost three weeks since the incident after all, so it was still a relatively recent trauma and it was the polite and decent thing to do.
As soon as her eyes landed on me she froze, blue eyes wide with fright as if I was coming over to murder her myself. The look on her face was so visceral that it made my insides run cold, made me stop dead in my tracks.
But then one guy hanging on the edge of her group started begging for attention and she shook it off to turn to him, her back to me now as she returned to her normal conversation and acted like I didn't exist.
I swallowed hard and wandered back to my seat, guilt and anxiety swirling in my gut like food that wasn't sitting right. Maybe it was best to talk to her alone.
"What was that about?" Katie whispered to me while our friends chatted, apparently the only one who noticed my attempt to get close to Jill.
"I just wanted to make sure she was okay," I explained. Katie nodded, understanding clouding her eyes.
How was I going to get Jill alone? The girl hated my guts on a regular basis, and she clearly seemed even less thrilled with my existence now, though I couldn't imagine why. It wasn't like she knew it was my fault.
Or did she?
After what seemed like an eternity of watching her like a creep from across the room as she flirted and picked at her lunch and caught up with all her friends and other students and faculty coming up to talk to her, wish her well, ask her what happened, Jill finally saved me the trouble and excused herself left the cafeteria alone. I jumped to my feet and took off after her, not even giving an explanation to my friends. There was no way I could miss the rare opportunity and every second counted, especially as I was slower now with my leg.
Drawing her immaculate leather jacket tighter around her, she headed outside and I followed at a brisk walk.
"Jill!" I called once we were both safely outside and away from most of the prying eyes of our classmates. "Hey Jill! Wait up!"
And then she did the weirdest thing I had ever seen her do. She burst into a sprint.
She ran--in high heels in the grass, which was impressive--like I was the Devil himself chasing after her intent on dragging her screaming and kicking down to Hell.
"Jill! Stop running for Christ's sake!" I snapped as I sped after her, even though I knew she probably couldn't hear me with the cold snap of wind and if she did, she certainly wasn't about to stop on account of me asking. Thankfully, my long legs and track practices kicked into gear and I caught up to her. She was just in arms reach, so I grabbed her as gently as I could by the arm and hauled her to a stop before I could bust any of my stitches. Already my leg was flaming in agony. But if she was breaking her rule about unnecessary physical activity and sweating, then I damn well wanted to know why I managed to goad her into it.
"My God Jill what the hell happened to you?" I panted out, irritated and utterly confused. She hated me sure, but not run-for-your-life hatred. And she looked downright hysterical now that I'd caught up.
Jill thrashed like a fish out of water, desperately trying to get away from me. Her hysteria must have given her some extra strength, because she yanked her arm out of my hand in seconds and stumbled backwards.
"No! Stay away from me!" she sputtered, her heel catching in the dirt and sending right down onto her ass. But she kept scrambling back as if she were trying to get away from me, grass stains on her mini skirt be damned so long as it meant putting more distance between us.
What the hell had I done to her without even knowing?
"Jill chill, it's just me," I said, as fear gnawed at my gut. Jill was not the type of girl to be running away or scrambling in the dirt in fear. She was a grab the bull by the horns kind of girl. Or the kind of girl who threw out a biting remark.
"They want you! They hurt me to warn you! They'll do it again!" she gasped out, words running together, frantic. "Stay away from me! They'll do it again!"
"Who are 'they'? What are you talking about?"
"I don't know, it was all so fast, came out of nowhere," she said, her voice quick and jerky as she continued backing away on the ground, shaking her head furiously as if to negate the whole situation.
I dropped to my knees and grabbed her by the shoulders, yanking her still. "Jill!" I said firmly, "Stop."
She froze, eyes wide and bright, chest heaving in ragged breaths. Her hair was wild. The perfectly straight blonde locks were tangled wisps around her face, windblown and full of fly aways. Beneath her makeup, her skin flushed. Her legs and palms were covered in dirt. I could only imagine the state of her skirt and how furious she was going to be later when she realized.
"Breathe," I said, still holding on in case she made a break for it.
She took a huge gust of air and her lips trembled around it, holding it in for such a long time I thought she was trying to deliberately pass out just to get away from me, before she finally exhaled, long and slow. Her whole body slumped, shoulders dropping under my palms and I released her. She fell onto her back, eyes slipping shut.
I winced.
Jill lying in the dirt, hair spilled out across the grass, with no regard for her outfit or cleanliness or if anyone was passing by to see this scene?
This was dire.
"What happened?" I asked quietly. I didn't want her to get up and run again or freak out, but it seemed like all the fight had gone out of her. Even her eyes had closed, like she was content to take a nap right here on the dirty ground in the middle of campus.
"I was showering," she said, in a detached way I'd never heard from her before. Her voice was deeper than usual when she was faking niceties or chattering to her friends. "I was going to meet Bret after my shower instead of going to the dance."
More than I needed to know.
"And there was a man there. Just standing there. Staring at me." Her eyes flew open. "Red eyes!" she exclaimed, her chest started to heave again, "Red eyes like Blade."
Of all things to notice, that had to be the connection her brain latched onto.
"And then he just walked over and kissed me. I was so shocked that I didn't do anything. He started shoving me to my bed and when he started undressing me I snapped out of it. I freaked out. I tried to get him off me, to call for help." She curled into the fetal position, knees up to her chest as she rolled onto her side, making herself small like she was trying to hide. "But there was no one. We were alone. I was alone. And I was screaming and then he bit me and then we weren't alone. Then another man came."
Tears streamed down her face, making her makeup run like mudslides down her pink cheeks. "The other man said he wanted a taste too, but that they had a job to do, and then they could have some fun." She started to cry, and I could barely understand her as she shook and tried to explain on sobbing breaths. "They started arguing. Something about their boss getting mad. And then they realized I was listening."
She turned her eyes on me, ringed with red now that I was close enough to look at her properly, and I wondered when the last time she slept was. She looked how I felt every time I woke up from a nightmare over the summer, terrified but not knowing why, restless and exhausted with no end in sight.
"They touched me everywhere. They wouldn't stop. I couldn't get them off me. They were so strong, too strong..." her face crumpled again, "And then they were both biting me and touching me and then nothing." She had broken down so horribly by this point that she couldn't even speak anymore. I didn't know what to do, how to help her or comfort her, so I sat there and waited with her until she got herself moderately under control. And then she finally finished the rest of it, in a broken whisper. "I can't remember anything else. I woke up a few days later in a hospital."
She was sniffling and swallowing and making every effort to breathe deeply to calm down, and I didn't dare say a word in case I unsettled her again. But her story wasn't over yet.
"They were talking about you," she said suddenly. "How scared you would be. How much they wanted to touch you and drink from you." Her already shaking body shuddered violently, more tears sliding down her cheeks, but her eyes were dead, attention far away from here. "But that they couldn't. That they weren't allowed. Not yet. Not yet."
Not yet.
A few words could strike the fear into anyone's heart.
You're next.
Not yet.
All warnings, telling me something was coming...but not yet. I had to wait for it to happen, scared and paranoid for when they inevitably came for. Do to me what they did to Jill. Or worse.
The only question that remained was why. Why go through all the trouble of scaring me, warning me? I was human; nothing important. So why bother? Why not just kill me? Kidnap me like they had this summer, use me and play with me like a toy as they often seemed to do?
"They talked about Blade too."
"What?"
"They talked about how angry he'd be, how heartbroken he'd be if you left." Her voice was paper thin, hard to hear over the autumn wind blowing dry crackling leaves across the ground. "They couldn't wait for him to come and find them after you left. Have him begging on his knees for you, but that he couldn't have you back. And then how they'd end his misery after a long while."
"What? No! They won't take me away. He won't let them."
"They won't take you away," she echoed.
"Jill, what else did--"
"They won't take you away," she repeated, anger sparking in her dead eyes as she finally looked at me, like she hadn't even realized I was there until now. "You have to go away! Get the hell away from me!"
What the—
She scrambled to her feet, pointing a shaking, manicured finger at me accusingly. Her hands were filthy. "Don't you ever come near me again. I don't want to remember what happened that night! Stop trying to make me remember!" she shouted at me before she turned and ran off, struggling in her heels in the grass, and this time I let her go. She'd told me much more than I had ever bargained for.
********
"Okay, what the fuck is going on?" Blade asked as soon as we walked through the door of his house. The entire car ride had been quiet, and I was too distracted by Jill to even care or notice that we had arrived home.
"What do you mean?" My heart jumped into an even faster unsettled rhythm than it had been in since I'd talked to Jill. He couldn't know about this afternoon, there was no way...right? I was pretty sure I hadn't felt him around all day, but by lunch I'd stopped paying attention, could focus on nothing else but what Jill had told me.
"This morning, the 'I already did' and the kiss," he said, mimicking my voice as he gripped my shoulders and pinned me against the front door. The wood was cold against my back, seeping through my lightweight jacket.
Shit it was cold outside. Note to self; get a better coat.
"Um..." This morning felt like it belonged to another life entirely and I had completely forgotten about the kiss thing. "I...already did," I said helplessly. My brain couldn't make sense of the emotional whiplash of Jill's freak out to kissing Blade and as such, I had no brilliant reply.
"Already did what?" he asked, exasperated as he lifted his hands to brace himself against the door, caging me in with no escape. "Do you know how much I've been thinking about that? Considering all the possibilities of those three stupid fucking words? All day!"
I couldn't help but laugh. Wow. I'd gotten under his skin a lot easier than expected. "Jeez Blade, I've never seen you so stressed out like this before."
He growled at me, face hardening. "Kiana this is so not funny. What did you mean?"
"What did you think I meant?" I asked, my tone edging into flirty. Having him here was calming, feeling his touch, present and real, made Jill's panic a slowly fading memory. A different world.
"Why don't you just tell me?"
I slid my hand behind my back, grabbing the handle of the door as I tilted up to him, nearly brushing my lips against his. His body went slack with surprise, wary against a potential trap but unable to stop leaning in to me anyway.
I twisted the handle with a smile.
"I broke up with Landon," I said before I pushed the door open and stepped back, keeping my back against it as I swung it open all the way.
He clearly wasn't expecting it, and since most of his weight had been on his hands, which he had conveniently put on the door on either side of my head, he fell into his house, landing on the floor in a tangle of limbs with a loud thud and a very satisfying 'oof!'
"Um..." Leo said, looking at a loss as he stared at Blade on the floor in an ungraceful heap and me, victorious as I stepped around him to enter the house.
"Hi, Leo. Lovely day, isn't it?" I asked, as if his master hadn't just faceplanted into the house on my account. He snorted a laugh and I joined in, heading off down the hall as my bad mood melted away, Blade's fall replaying in my mind over and over again.
I only succeeded in making it around the first corner before Blade caught up with his super speed and nearly knocked me into the wall, but checked himself at the last second.
"What did you say?" he demanded. He didn't even seemed pissed about me making him hit the floor, though I was sure that was coming later.
"I broke up with Landon," I repeated slowly, like he was very stupid and not paying attention. For someone who told me to break up with Landon on multiple occasions, you think he would have gotten it the first time around.
A wide grin stretched across his face, which I had to say was adorable. It softened his features to something younger and blindingly handsome, more so than usual. But he hid it quickly, arranging his face to look concerned. A pointless effort as we both knew how insincere it was. He was far too thrilled at getting his way to be that sympathetic.
"Oh no," he said with approximately zero emotion. "Why?"
"Because I realized I didn't like him like that," I replied, not willing to give him the satisfaction of the other reason, which was Blade. He had a big enough ego as is and frankly, it wasn't like I'd broken up with Landon to be with Blade. It was wrong for me to be with Landon and that was why, even though Blade had been the catalyst that made me realize sooner that it wouldn't work out. And why. "That's why I ignored you after Friday night. I was thinking everything through and trying to figure things out. I told him Monday and he was surprisingly okay with it."
He was still pulling his casual act, but he was practically vibrating with energy, corners of his mouth twisting up like he was fighting not to grin and be obvious about his satisfaction over all this.
"So now what, sweetheart?" he asked, leaning down to me where I was back against the wall. His eyes were focused and dark, voice going soft and tender in a way I hadn't really heard from him since the first time we kissed.
I reached up, sliding my hands around the nape of his neck and into his soft hair, let myself have this brief moment of fantasy. His unwavering attention, his hands sneaking down to tentatively take my waist, the way he was searching my eyes and waiting for the answer that seemed inevitable in the way he was so close, cool breath kissing my lips.
"Now we will do..." I whispered, tightening my fingers around locks of his hair. Then I yanked him back, hard. "Nothing!"
"What?" His shock allowed me to slip out of his arms. Again, I didn't get very far as he caught my hand and pulled me back, fingers entangled before I could stop the reflex. He had such nice hands, fingers interlocking together like a perfectly made zipper.
"You--" I said, jabbing him in the chest with my other hand as I tugged my traitorous fingers free from his, "--are still with Mona. Which means that we--" I jabbed him again "--shall do nothing until your relationship status changes."
"You can't be serious!" He was aghast. For a second, everything had come together for him, and I'd ripped it all away before he could so much as taste the victory. And, oh, how satisfying it was.
"I'm dead serious. It's either one or the other. And until you pick one of us you're not getting anything from me. Which means you are getting rejected."
"Oh really?" His tone went doubtful, eyes calculating as he folded his arms over his chest and stared me down. "I get nothing from you?"
"Nothing," I confirmed, mimicking his pose.
"So you don't want to get back at Mona for kissing Landon? Or slamming you into a wall? Or making you get stitches?"
Hmmmm. He had a good point there.
But no. I wasn't going to stoop to Mona's level and intentionally kiss her boyfriend just to get petty revenge.
Though they were in an open relationship, so it wasn't really cheating was it?
Why the hell was I considering this?!
"Oh no, but that's true. Unless I dump her I'm not getting anything from you...after all you have self-control and willpower, right?" He sighed, long suffering and dramatic. My eye twitched. "I guess I should just go to my room and think this through, though at the moment you're not really a selling point since you're not giving me anything to work with to compare."
Mona would be furious. That sick feeling of satisfaction when I told her I'd kissed Blade and the seething hatred on her face...oh it had been wonderful. For the two seconds it took for her to get her revenge and give me who even knew how many stitches? She would do far worse if she knew I was still hooking up with him behind her back.
"It's truly too bad about you and Landon," he said, tutting in a disappointing way. "At least now she has no reason to go after him again, right? Unless you meet someone else, then she'll probably try to hook up with them too."
Also true. I had never intentionally gone after Blade, things just sort of happened. But Mona had planned to go after Landon. She'd left bloody nail marks in my shoulder. Cut my leg open. Humiliated me my first day here and took every opportunity to try and cut me down. And besides the leg slicing, I hadn't done anything to warrant her treatment, had I?
"You've given me so much to think about. Really, I'm flattered," he said, extending a hand to settle it on my shoulder, harder than necessary. His palm slid up my shoulder to neck, his thumb trailing the line of my collarbone and the dip at the base of my throat. My airways seemed to tighten, remembering the feel of his hand wrapped fully around my throat, how we'd almost kissed in the pool--
"Give me a few days, huh? Three to four business days maybe and I might have an answer for you," he continued, squeezing before he released me. With a sweep of his arm, he gestured for me to lead, a wicked glint in his eye. Ignoring him and his smug face, I stepped past and hoisted my bag higher, determined to ignore his stupid ass.
I was not a mistress. Or whatever extra on the side of his girlfriend. I was not going to get with Blade while he was still with Mona. I was better than her and frankly, I valued my life too much to risk Mona murdering me when--I mean, if--she found out about us hypothetically hooking up. It would be unbelievably stupid to throw myself into this mess. They had enough problems with their open relationship and her wanting him to settle down forever to add me into the mix.
Even though the thought of him with her forever made something hot and bitter race through my veins.
Blade walked close behind me, close enough to touch but far enough that it was driving me insane. Everything about him drove me up a wall. I could still feel his hand on me, the gentle touch across my collarbone and throat, the hunger in his eyes.
Mona was gone. Blade and her went off with different people all the time. What would it matter if, even for a short time, I was the one he was spending his time with instead? Something this intense might burn bright and intense like a firework, but it would flame out just as quickly, right? What was the harm?
My leg ached as I walked, each step a pointed reminder of how much I hated Mona and how much I didn't want to cower before her.
I couldn't help it.
Whirling around, I threw my arms around his neck and I pressed my lips hard against his. I felt him grin briefly before he kissed me back, tugging on my lower lip as his arms came around me, squeezing me so tightly to him he lifted me off my feet. His fingers curled around the fabric of my shirt, fingers and knuckles grinding deep against the flesh of my back. A choked moan escaped me and I pressed up against him, pleading silently for as much of him as I could get.
For the first time, we were kissing just to kiss, without any outside influence of blood or near-death experiences or accidents. It was just us. And somehow, that made it the best kiss of them all.
If I was going to do this, I might as well go all in. And I let him know it as I deepened our kiss, let my hands explore him for the first time, trace the hard planes of his broad chest, the chiseled lines of his shoulders, the muscles of his arms as he slowly lowered me back to my feet.
"So much for willpower," he mused in between kisses, stealing a quick kiss to the tip of my nose.
"Oh shut up already."
He laughed, nudging his nose into my hair as his spine curved forward, body curling around me in a way that felt safe and steady, like we'd known each other for years. Back down again, he caught me in another kiss, slow and soft as his hands came up to cradle my face in his palms. I melted. There was something unexpectedly sweet about it and sweet was definitely not a word I would ever use to describe him, but oh it did things to me. I wanted to know all the different ways he could kiss me.
I ran my tongue along his teeth and felt the sharp point of a fang. Startled, I broke away and he let out a heavy exhale, dropping his head into my neck while we both took a moment to catch our breath.
"Sorry," I breathed.
"Not your fault." He punctuated this with a kiss on my neck. "Can't be helped sometimes."
I put my hands on his chest and pushed him back. "So what? Your fangs come out along with your...well...." I made a vague gesture to his belt region, not sure how to phrase it.
He snickered. "Sometimes yes."
"Ah."
"Are you two done what ever it is you're doing?" Leo called.
"I don't think we'll be done for a while," Blade said under his breath, brushing my hair back as he grazed his teeth over my throat.
A squeak came out of me, and I felt my whole body shudder with pleasure. "We're uh...done, Leo." I pulled out of his arms to get some space and to clear my brain, but I was sure I was red enough to be mistaken for a stop sign.
Blade pouted at me as Leo passed us in the hall and kept going to go do his job without us in the way.
"You'll get over it," I said, forcing a neutral tone as I hefted my bag up and walked off down the hall, ashamed at how quickly I caved to him. I should have expected it honestly. He got under my skin like no one else I'd ever met before. Whether it was a vamp thing, a bond thing, or a Blade thing, I wasn't sure I'd ever know. At the end of the day, it didn't really seem to matter.
"Hey, Kiana!" a familiar voice said.
I looked up and saw Ace sitting on the steps that headed upstairs to the bedrooms. I smiled, hoping to God I didn't look like a mess. "Hey, Ace."
"You and Blade having fun?" he asked, stretching one leg down the steps as he looked me up and down. Less like he was checking me out, more like he was assessing me for proof. I ran a hand over my hair, just in case.
"Maybe. Probably more fun than you."
"Ouch," he said, collapsing against the stairs behind with a hand over his chest like he'd been shot through the heart. "How could you possibly assume I have no one in my life?"
"Well," I said as I felt Blade come up behind me, sliding my bag off my shoulders before his hands snuck their way from my hips to my stomach, pulling me back into his body. Someone was greedy all of a sudden. "You spend all your time with him--" I jerked my thumb over my shoulder "--so I'm assuming you have no one...I mean...nothing better to do."
"By all means, make a suggestion. You got any cute friends you could hook me up with?"
I immediately thought of Jill, even though she was nowhere near being my friend, but I doubted she'd want to see anyone with red eyes at the moment. Or anyone with any connection to me. That tight knot of anxiety returned to my gut as I remembered how weird she'd gotten this afternoon and I leaned back into Blade, trying to forget, at least for now.
"All of my friends are taken. Except one, but he's a straight guy."
"Damn," he said, though he didn't look too disappointed. Much like Blade, I doubted Ace had ever gone very long without company. Now that I wasn't fearing for my life from a strange vampire ambushing me and asking me personal questions, and we weren't in low light of a dance, I could appreciate how handsome he was and how people might flock to him for his attention. "Well, if you ever know anyone looking, let me know. I love having company and I'm sure they'd love a hot and loveable guy to spend time with."
Lean where Blade was broad, almost on the lanky side with long limbs but with a confidence and comfort in his body that left him with grace, Ace was definitely attractive. I might have accused him of hurting Jill, but away from my assumptions, Ace had a kind face and a casual smile. Unlike Blade who looked more broody and if you approached him he'd tell you to fuck off, Ace seemed to radiate welcoming energy. Seeing him sit on the steps, casual and open and so friendly, I never would peg him as a vampire. Thus far, he was probably the nicest one I'd met off the bat, even if our first meeting had been...odd.
Nowhere near the weirdness of meeting Blade, but my barometer for weird was forever skewed.
"Why would I tell you? I should tell a hot guy," I said cheekily while Blade chuckled.
"Oh haha. The conduit's got jokes." He rolled his eyes at me. "Blade, aren't you going to defend me?"
"Why?" he asked, tone bored as he nuzzled my neck. It was easy to tell where his attention was focused.
"Because we've been friends for like literally forever and you've known her for only a few months."
"She's more fun."
"Ha!" I said victoriously to Ace before I pulled away from Blade again. As interesting as it was to see Blade interact with an actual friend, something I wasn't sure I'd believed even when Ace told me, I had things to do. "Now normally I'd stay and chat, but I've got homework."
"Oh come on, I'm girl deprived and I want to get to know you better. Stay," Ace said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
Blade growled at him, prompting Ace to groan out a "Relax, I'm kidding" in reply.
I couldn't help but smile. For someone in an open relationship, he didn't seem thrilled at the idea of my attention wandering elsewhere. You'd think he'd be used to it with Mona after all this time and I tried not to enjoy the feeling too much, given as he was still very much with Mona, even though it felt like I'd won something over her for once.
"Sorry boys, but I need to get my homework done first," I said, reaching for my bag. Before I could even touch it, Blade swooped in and swiped it out of my grasp, looking through it to find my math homework. In seconds he had my notebook and handout against the wall, his eyes flicking across the problems as fast as his hand was with my pencil.
"Here, all done," Blade said, handing it back to me a few minutes later.
I took the paper and looked it over before I looked up at Blade in shock. "How—?" I sputtered, utterly flabbergasted.
"I've been alive for a long time and I've been to school more times than I can count. That is a piece of cake. So now you have no excuse."
"I guess not," I said slowly, still shocked.
"Jeez, look at her face," Ace said with a laugh. "I think you broke her brain."
"And you're sure these are correct?" I asked.
The look Blade levelled at me had the word 'seriously?' written all over it, like how dare I have the audacity to question his intelligence. But Ace was right. My brain was not computing.
Shaking my head, I stuffed my homework back in bag. "Okay then. I guess I'm not that busy after all."
"Who knew Blade's brains would come in handy?" Ace joked.
"As far as I knew I didn't know he had brains like that," I said, still giving Blade an amazed look. There really was so much I didn't know about him.
"Thanks," Blade said, wrinkling his nose. "You thought I was dumb?"
"Not dumb, not exactly an Einstein either. I kind of figured you were just...average." I'd never really given it much thought honestly. I had no idea how old he really was or what his schooling was, if he'd done any, or hardly any personal details. Maybe now that Mona was gone and things were changing I'd actually get to find out more about him with no interruptions or buffers.
"Better than flat out dumb, I guess."
"Are you like that too?" I asked Ace.
"Good looks and wits are effective ways to get attention," he said, with a cheeky grin. "Vampires are equipped to pick up most people in some way or another."
"Without trying?" I asked, feeling skeptical.
"More or less. We have our ways."
How vague and mysterious.
"Well then neither of you are doing a very good job with that," I replied.
"I think Blade's doing just fine with you," Ace pointed out.
Heat crept up my neck as I recalled all the many times Blade had very effectively gotten under my skin, physically or other. Ace was right. It wasn't just one specific thing he did that worked, it was just...overall. All of it. Him.
"Well what do you know, you aren't as unfeeling as you pretended to be." Blade grinned, tugging me against his side, hip to hip. "Today is truly full of surprises."
"Shut up," I mumbled, "I blame it on the bond."
"Blame it on what ever you want, you still like me."
"Well of course I do, you idiot," I said, annoyed and embarrassed at the same time. "You just realized that now? Or was kissing you not a big enough clue?"
"Point to Kiana. She was right to think you weren't so smart," Ace piped up.
"Bite me," Blade said with a withering look his way.
"I'll let Kiana tend to that. I'm sure you'll enjoy it more than if I did it, though if you insist, I'll give it my best effort."
"Well according to her we aren't doing anything until I'm single," Blade explained, feigning ignorance.
"What were you just doing in the hallway? 'Talking'?"
"We were talking," I said quickly. "Just...you know...maybe not the whole time."
"So basically it was kind of like Friday night in the kitchen?" he teased. "You should have said. I could have enjoyed an encore."
"Without the groping and undressing," Blade said as his hand slide under my shirt to my side. "But I would be happy to fix that."
"On second thought, you boys can have lots of fun without me," I said, hastily pulling out of his hold on me. "See you later!"
I scooped up my bag and bolted up the stairs. Blade could have stopped me easily, but he let me go, which was surprising and also a relief. Good to know he could stop being a pain in the ass if he wanted too.
What was going to happen now? I was single technically, but he wasn't and I didn't want to be the 'other woman' but...Mona did go with other guys all the time. Surely it wouldn't be all that much of a crime if I was with Blade? Not a relationship, but kissing here and there wouldn't be so bad. Not like he'd want more than that anyways.
But I couldn't help but think about the possibility of more. Like maybe it being just us two. No Mona. Just us.
The thought made something flutter inside my ribcage until reality caught up with my brain and squashed the idea. Blade in a committed relationship? With me? I had more chances of sprouting wings than that ever hapening.
I sighed and went to my room to take a bath, hoping that might relax me after such a long and rollercoaster type of day. It didn't really.
Hopping onto my bed, I got out my English book, hoping to get ahead in my reading while I had the chance and maybe unwind a little. I only left my room for dinner, hanging out with Ace and Blade for a little while before I headed back up to sleep, Blade giving me a kiss on the cheek before I sleepily excused myself. I had swatted him playfully, but internally I was pretty happy about it.
I liked the casual way he was touching me without thinking about it. It wasn't all just hormones and groping, there was something soft about the way he reached out to me sometimes, like I mattered and wasn't just someone to fuck around with.
I didn't want to read too much into it though. He was used to being with lots of women, so he probably knew exactly what he was doing to make them feel special for whatever time he was with them. It didn't mean anything, even if I liked the attention and the intimacy of it. It was temporary and meaningless.
As I curled up under my blankets, images of Jill in the dirt desperately trying to escape me encroached from the far corners of my mind, dampening my mood.
I fell asleep with the image of red eyes staring at me out of the shadows, and the words 'you're next' blurring and wavering behind my closed eyelids.
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Hi everyone. I'm ashamed that this chapter has come out so late; I had been doing so well about updating and then I went away for a week and then everything sort of failed. Once I got back I had to catch up on a bunch of school things, and I was sick and tired like crazy. And it just sort of snowballed; since I've come back I've spent most of my hours either sleeping, being sick, doing homework or seeing doctors and waiting for doctor's appointments and helping my parents and sisters with stuff.
Then to top it all off, the chapter I SWORE I had finished editing before leaving for my sister's wedding in Mexico was not edited at all. I hadn't even touched it. So between all my drama I had to find time to edit it, and I finally was able to finish editing it tonight since I'm too tired to bother with any more work or anything that requires the slightest amount of effort on my part. Sigh.
I'll try to be better at balancing everything since things are starting to calm down, at least my sick/doctor thing. My school stuff is picking up but I'm trying to be keen by doing things early so I'm hoping that'll free up more of my time for editing. I've only got like 20 more chapters to go before this story is finished (okay i have the sequel to actually sit down and write and that'll take AGES probably but I'll make it work somehow).
I'll be back soon hopefully, so I hope you enjoyed some Blade/Kiana tonight!
Have a good day everyone, don't forget to tell people you care about that you love them cause you do and you should tell them, even if 'they already know' its always nice to hear right?