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I am currently thinking about a new title for the first book. Supernatural Boarding School wil be the name of the series. The first book could be called A Bond of Love or something (please tell me if you have suggestions, it's got to be like "A ... of ..."). The second book is A Touch of Red as you all know, and the third book will be called... dumdumdum... A Brush of Death!
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A big shout-out to my awesome editor KristabellePineault!
ENJOY
When I piled into my old crappy car with Eros, Simon and Dylan, I couldn’t help but wonder how it had come to this. A crazy female vampire, her two bondmates and the guy that hates her guts stuff themselves into a battered old car – it sounded like the start of a bad joke instead of a scene out of my everyday life. I was just about to drive out of the underground parking lot when Antwan pretty much threw himself in front of my car. I rolled down my window and raised my eyebrows.
“Please tell me this isn’t what I think it is.”
“I’m coming with,” he announced, opening the backdoor and forcing Simon to scoot closer to Dylan.
“Oh no!” I said angrily. “I know what this is – there is no way I’m taking you to see her.” What was he even thinking, going off to see Anne while leaving his sweet girlfriend behind?”
“It’s not what you think,” Antwan said quickly. “Will and Minnie wanted to see your friends again. Sam and Paulie too. Apparently, everyone really hit it off that time at the hotel. But Will has this really tiny car, so I got thrown out. You’re my ride.”
I sighed and started the car once more. “Fine – but no funny business while you’re in my hometown.”
“I promise,” Antwan said solemnly.
“Yeah well, I don’t trust your promises anymore,” I bit out. “You’ve been known to break them.”
In the rearview mirror I could see Antwan’s mouth open and close a few times, no words coming out.
“Oh yeah,” I said nastily. “I know. You’re horrible.”
Simon started to ask what the hell we were yapping on about, but I turned on the radio to tune him out. Eros ruffled my hair and smiled reassuringly. Despite my promises to Will and Antwan to keep their secrets, I had ended up telling my boyfriend everything anyway. I needed someone to talk to about this whole messed-up situation and if there was one person in my life I could trust completely, it was most definitely Eros. It felt good to be completely open and honest with him. He still refused to talk about his mother’s letter though and for now I’d decided not to press the matter. I liked the happy and sweet version of Eros too much to throw him back into the deep dark pit he’d only just crawled out of. For now I was allowing him to push the letter to the back of his mind and focus all of his energy on me. The time would come to discuss his father, but now wasn’t it.
“Jeesh, Antwan!” Simon exclaimed.
I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw my bondmate scoot even closer to Dylan. It looked like the lack of space in the backseat had caused Antwan to almost stick his finger in Simon’s eye.
“Well hi there boyfriend,” Dylan said mockingly when Simon was so close he was almost on Dylan’s lap. “How… cozy this is.”
“I still can’t believe you pretended to be gay for me,” Eros laughed.
Even though he was on the other side of the car and his aura was perfectly controlled and smooth like usual, I could still feel a darkness emanating from Dylan. It chilled me to the core, yet there was also something in there that felt a lot like the red streaks I sometimes saw in auras.
All thoughts of Dylan’s weird energy were pushed aside when some idiot on a mountain bike almost ended up underneath my car when he shot out of the Paddy Creek Wilderness and onto the windy road we were on. I focused on my driving from that moment on, while Eros have me pointers and complimented me frequently. He really was one heck of a boyfriend.
***
When we got to Warrensburg, I started by dropping off Antwan at Greg’s. The original plan had been to find Ryker first, then go have lunch with my mother and end at Greg’s place, but Antwan and my other friends coming with had changed everything.
Will’s black Jaguar pulled up next to our car and Sam, Paulie and Minnie got out immediately, rushing over to me. I looked at the car they’d come rolling out of in disgust. I’d thought my car was bad, but his had so many cratches there was barely any paint left.
“Don’t hate Barney,” Will warned when he caught me eyeing his vehicle. “He’s the most dependable car a guy could ever wish for.”
“You named your car?” I asked with a smile.
“Please don’t tell me you’re gonna bond over that,” Dylan called from my car. He’d rolled down his window and stuck his head out, an irritated frown on his face. “At least Barney is better than Puky.”
Before Will could ask me about that weird name, Anne and Greg came rushing out of the house, running over to me and pulling me into a hug.
“You’re early!” Anne said happily when she’d finally let me go.
“Don’t get too excited yet,” I warned. “I still need to go have lunch with my mom and take care of some things. I came by to drop off these idiots…” I gestured behind me at my friends from school.
“Nice,” Greg said, high-fiving Paulie. “Come on in guys, I’ve got enough snacks to feed a village.”
I said goodbye to my friends and promised them I’d be back in a couple of hours. It felt weird that Sam, Paulie, Minnie, Antwan and Will were all piling into Greg’s basement with Anne and Greg himself while I drove off to chase after some cue about my dad. I should be in there with them, playing Guitar Hero, drinking, eating, laughing.
“We’ll be quick,” Eros told me, patting my knee when I scooted back into the driver’s seat.
“Yeah, that’s Eros’ motto for everything,” Dylan taunted. “So be warned.”
Simon actually laughed at that, which got him a disapproving look from me. Still, the casual bantering helped take my mind off the nerves that were rushing though my body. Both Eros and Simon took some of it from me, but it felt like there was still enough worry left in me to take down an elephant.
***
“I swear we need to go left,” Simon said from behind me. “Just take the next turn.”
“That’s what you said twenty minutes ago,” Dylan complained. “And ten minutes before that.”
“Shut up!” I said through gritted teeth. Their bickering had stopped being comforting and become tiresome about fifteen minutes earlier, when we’d finally realized that we were very much lost.
“Eros’ car has GPS,” Dylan growled. He took out his cell phone and grimaced when he saw he couldn’t use the GSP-app without internet. “And WiFi.”
Eros rolled his eyes. “My car doesn’t have WiFi.”
“At least it’s comfortable,” was the irritated response. “Why did we have to take this piece of crap? It’s called the Puke Mobile for a reason, apparently.”
It gave me great pleasure to see that my impromptu driving style – caused by Simon’s awful direction – had made him nauseous. To be fair, I wasn’t feeling so great myself.
“I thought you used to live in this town,” Dylan just kept on whining. “You’d think you would be able to find a big old house.”
“Everything looks different now that I’m behind the wheel myself,” I grumbled. “My mom and friends used to drive me around.”
“There it is!” Eros exclaimed all of a sudden, a smile breaking across his handsome face. “1202 Nottingham Drive.”
I stopped the car in front of a nice-looking four-bedroom house. It had a big yard on which two kids were playing with their cute little dog. The animal was fluffy and white and just looking at it made my heart clench. All I could think about was that cute little thing trapped inside a cage in the feeding rooms, some vampire lifting it up and sucking it dry.
“Focus,” Eros whispered in my ear. “We’re here for Ryker, remember?”
I nodded and pushed open the car door. Eros was with me in a flash, pulling me close to him. It was pretty windy outside, so my hair flew around my face like a tornado. A very hairy tornado that is. We all stood in front of the house, staring at playing kids, the barking dog, the white garage doors, the stairs leading up to the front door.
“Come on,” Simon said after a while. He put a hand on the small of my back, totally ignoring the fact that Eros already had an arm around me. “This is it.”
I took a deep calming breath and slowly walked up the stairs. Dylan knocked before I had a moment to think about what I was going to say. After a few second, the door swung open, revealing a tall balding man with a huge belly. He was wearing an apron over his shirt and there was a spoon in his hand.
“Yes?” he asked, looking over his shoulder back into his house. “I’ll just be frank – I’m not gonna buy anything from you. No charities either.”
“Sorry,” I said softly. This guy wasn’t supernatural – he was just a fat human. There wasn’t a chance that this was the Ryker we were looking for. Still, I needed to try. “Are you Ryker Adams?”
“That’s me,” the man affirmed. “What is this about?”
Simon pulled a picture out of his back pocket. It was a copy of the one I’d gotten from my mother this summer. “Have you ever seen this man before?”
Ryker Adams glanced at it and shrugged. “I’m not sure – I don’t think so. We only moved here a couple weeks ago, so we don’t know all the neighbors yet though… Wait – is there a rapist on the loose or anything? Is someone after the kids?”
He pushed me and Eros aside and yelled at the kids that had been playing with the dog. “Fiona, Winston, get in here!”
When the children were safely inside, Ryker turned to the four of us again. “Could you please explain to me what you want?”
“I’m looking for my dad,” I told him. “He left when I was little, and all I know is that someone named Ryker used to know him. We thought it might be you.”
“Oh.” The man let out a deep shuddering breath and wiped his forehead with his sleeve. “Thank God, I was afraid that there was something horrible going on here. What’s your father’s name, girl?”
“Jack Hollow,” I replied nervously. This was it – the last chance. If he didn’t recognize the name, I would be done here.
“Sorry,” Ryker said with a rueful smile. “Never heard of him. Good luck looking for him though, I hope you find him.”
We thanked the man for his time and skulked back to the car. Not feeling up to driving, I wordlessly tossed the keys to Eros and slipped into the passenger’s seat. I’d always known it was a long shot. There were three names on the list Mr. Hammerhead had given me – it would have been a strange coincidence to have the first guy, living in my home town no less, be the one I was looking for. There were two Rykers left, so there really wasn’t a reason to panic, not yet. That didn’t change the fact that I felt lost and alone, even with both Simon and Eros with me.
“Well, that was fun,” Dylan said when Eros started the car. “Count me in for the next crazy road trip.”
***
My mother looked surprised when she found not just me and my new boyfriend on her front doorstep, but also Dylan and my ex. She greeted everyone heartily and hurried into the kitchen to prepare some more sandwiches. I joined her, leaving the guys on the couch. Dylan was the only one who truly seemed at ease. Eros was a little on edge because this was the first time meeting my mother as my official boyfriend and Simon was overwhelmed by everything – he’d never been at my house before after all.
“You could have let me know,” Mom told me reprimanding. “I thought I was meeting Eros today. Just Eros.”
“I’m sorry,” I said softly, not wanting the guys to overhear. Or at least Simon, since there was no getting past the vampires’ supersensitive ears. “I just… I needed Simon with me today and Dylan just invited himself along when he heard we were coming to see you.”
Mom smiled at that – when she smiled full-on like she did now, she looked ten years younger. “I don’t mind Dylan being here, or Simon for that matter. But you could’ve called.”
I nodded and took out some bread and butter. “Next time I will.”
“Now…” She handed me the plates. “Why did you need Simon with you?”
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I knew she’d be hurt and I just didn’t want to see her face. “I’m looking for Dad.”
I heard a sharp intake of breath and a plate dropping to the floor. I opened my eyes and glanced down, grimacing at the broken china on the tile floor.
Eros came rushing in then, immediately pulling me and my mom away from the scattered shards. Simon followed a moment later, while Dylan just remained on the couch. While Eros and Simon cleaned up after us, my mother and went into my room, away from the guys’ prying eyes. We sat on the edge of my bed, which I had last slept in two weeks ago. The sheets were still crumpled up the way I’d left them.
“Why?” Mom asked softly, pulling a pillow onto her lap and hugging it like she always did when she was nervous or sad. It seemed like at the moment, she was both.
“I... I just need to know if he’s still alive,” I explained, looking at the ground. “I’ve only know the true story for a few months. I need to know if he’s out there, what he’s like.”
“He never sent you a birthday card,” Mom argued. “He didn’t contact us once. Not that I’m complaining, but don’t you think that if he was still alive and feeling guilty about what happened, he would have gotten around to finding us? We’re still living in the same town, only a few blocks down from where he and I used to live. We’re really not that hard to find.”
I sighed. “I don’t know, Mom. I just need to find out for myself.”
“Fine,” she snapped.
“It would really help if you could tell me more about the guy that came to you back then,” I pressed on without hope. “Ryker. I’m trying to find him.”
My mother shook her head and got up from the bed. “If you want to chase after the man that nearly ruined our lives, be my guest. But don’t expect me to help you in this crazy goose chase.”
Before I could argue, she had already pushed open the door to the living room and was asking Dylan to help her in the kitchen. By asking him to join her in preparing lunch, she made it perfectly clear she was mad and didn’t want to talk to me anymore.
Defeated, I sunk into the soft cushions of the couch and buried my head in my hands. It was Simon who put his arm around me and pulled me close. I hadn’t even been paying attention to who I’d sat down next to.
“This is turning out to be a horrible day,” I groaned after a few minutes, trying to choke back my tears.
“Could be worse,” Dylan commented when he walked in from the kitchen. “You could be having a horrible day and have someone taking pictures of it.” He took out his phone and snapped a quick pic. “Okay, now you’ve got a reason to bitch about your day. But please do it at the table – lunch is served.”
***
Of course Dylan had to get on with ruining my day completely. I just couldn’t figure out what he wanted from me. One moment, he seemed like a nice guy – sad smile, kind eyes, stories about his mother… But most of the time, he did everything in his power to screw me over.
During lunch, he told my mother that he’d gotten to know me very well over the past couple of days. When she asked how so, he said with his mouth full of lettuce: “Oh, no reason. We just spent a lot of time together in detention.” Of course Mom had to know what had landed me in detention, and Dylan hadn’t hesitated to let her know. The moment Dylan said that Eros and I had been caught sleeping in the same bed, my mom’s eyes went wide and the vein in her neck started to bulge. She had been warming up to Eros before, chatting nicely with him, but all that was over when she found out that the seemingly nice guy sitting at her table, eating her sandwiches, was sleeping with her daughter – at least, that was what she thought that was going on. Never mind how many times we both assured her that we had merely slept – no sex whatsoever – she just wouldn’t believe it.
Again, she went to talk to me in my bedroom, letting the guys fend for themselves in our apartment. I sighed and flopped onto my bedspread, hugging my old teddy bear.
“I’m putting you on birth control pills,” my mother announced immediately.
I flushed bright red – she had no idea that both Dylan and Eros were able to hear us talking, since the walls were thin and their ears extremely sensitive. This was not a conversation I was willing to have while my boyfriend and his best friend were listening.
“Mom…”
“No, Demona, no arguing. I don’t know whether or not you are sleeping together already, but I think that in either case it’s best to start taking those pills as soon as possible. I would like some grandkids, but not right now!”
I breathed a laugh and looked down in embarrassment. “I’m still a virgin, I swear.”
“I hope that’s true, because you haven’t known that boy long enough to be that intimate with him.” My mother shook her head and sat down next to me.
“That boy is called Eros and I happen to love him,” I countered. “And I believe it’s up to me to decide when I’m ready for intimacy with anyone.”
“Just… be careful, okay?” She reached out to me and put a hand on my knee. “Don’t make the same mistakes I did.”
I frowned. “I thought you said dad was your first?”
“Erm… that was not entirely true…” She scratched the back of her neck. “Back in high school I dated this jock that was kinda pushy… anyway, it was all a huge mistake. I wish that your dad had been my first – he should have been. I’m not telling you to wait for marriage or anything. And who knows, maybe you’ll end up marrying Eros. But please, honey, be safe and make sure you’re ready for it. Don’t let him pressure you.”
I just started at my mother, feeling like I hardly knew her anymore. It was strange to think of her as a teenager who got pressured into having sex by a football player or whatever. And had she really just told me that she thought I might marry Eros one day? I didn’t even know if he believed in the whole concept of marriage. I wasn’t even sure I did.
“Is Eros a virgin as well?”
My mother and I locked eyes and a few seconds later, we both burst out laughing.
“Okay, yeah, I guess I know the answer to that one,” she admitted with a little smile. “How much older is he anyway?”
“Two years,” I replied.
She blinked. “Oh, that’s a bit more than I expected but… well, I like the guy. Honestly, he seems real nice and he’s really good to you, right?” When I nodded she seemed to relax a little. “Still, he’s more… experienced than you are. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Your dad was more experienced, and it can be real nice to have a guy that knows what he’s doing.”
“Mom!” I exclaimed, backing away from her. “Gross!”
She laughed, more at ease now. “What I meant to say is that you should realize that if he’s been with other girls, he should get tested.”
That shut me up. “Tested?”
“Yeah, you know… for STDs. Of course you’ll be using a condom on top of your birth control pills, but still. You should know if one of his previous girlfriends gave him anything. You don’t want to end up with a horrible disease like Chlamydia, trust me.”
“Please don’t tell me that you’ve had that too,” I grunted.
“No, but a friend of mine did,” she explained. “It’s nasty. So please, if you guys are ready for it, make sure he gets tested first okay? If he loves you, he’ll do that for you.”
“Okay, let’s stop talking about this right now,” I said, getting up. “Before this gets even weirder. I’ll be safe and smart about this, I promise. But there are three guys in our living room right now, so this is hardly the time for this discussion.”
“I’ll call the doctor for you,” Mom promised. “You’re gonna get those pills.”
“Fine,” I agreed quickly. Anything to shut her up. “Now please stop talking.”
***
The car ride to Greg’s place was extremely awkward, obviously. Dylan kept making jokes like “I bet that your mom liking me more than you is a hard pill to swallow” and “I know your day is bad, but please don’t go popping pills”. In the meantime, Eros kept glancing at me with a mixture of amusement, excitement and regret. He didn’t like how things had turned out, but I could feel through the bond that he was weirdly turned on by the idea of me soon being in a position that I could have sex whenever I wanted to. I smiled a little at that – it was nice to feel wanted after all. Simon was the only one oblivious to the whole birth control debacle, but he was very sympathetic about everything else. He gave Dylan quite a few vile looks because of what he had said to my mother. It was kind of sweet actually.
We were all relieved when we reached Greg’s a little while later. Anne and Greg were overjoyed to see me. They practically squeezed me to death. Jennifer, Nathanial, Paul and Hailey were over the moon as well. The only thing causing a little friction between me and my friends was the tall handsome vampire beside me, whom I introduced as my official boyfriend.
It was silent for a few seconds – everyone seemed to be waiting for something. Or rather… someone. Anne stepped forward with a scowl on her face. She grudgingly gave Eros a hug, wearing an expression like he might infect her with something nasty.
“You’d better treat her right,” she warned him sharply. “Or I will go al ballistic on that godly ass of yours.”
“Godly, hmm?” Eros mused, trying to look at himself from behind. He looked like a dog chasing his tail, making all of us laugh.
Anne’s remark and the casual laughter had broken the ice. Soon, everyone was talking freely again, just like they had before me and the guy had came in. I played Guitar Hero for a while, but soon decided I’d rather actually talk to my friends. After listening to Jen go on and on about some bitch at school, I turned to Will and Antwan for some sense of normality. I was exhausted – I had forgotten how lengthy Jen’s stories could be.
As it turned out though, normality was hardly something I would find with those two guys. Antwan was talking to Anne, and his aura was lit up like a child’s face on Christmas morning. It would have been cute to watch if he hadn’t had a girlfriend and Anne hadn’t been a human. In the meantime, Will was regarding Minnie like she was some kind of goddess. Poor Minnie had no idea that her friend was that into her – instead, she kept shooting glances at her boyfriend, a concerned look crossing over her delicate features every now and then. It seemed like I was no longer the only one who saw there was something going on between Antwan and Anne.
Sighing, I got up from my seat next to Will and moved over to the two lovebirds. I pulled Anne with me so she couldn’t talk to Antwan anymore. I chastised her for a while, but it didn’t really seem to sink in. Crap.
Letting out another deep sigh, I turned around and found myself wrapped securely in Eros’ arms. He landed a kiss on the top of my head and then pulled my face to his so he could kiss me. I got lost in the kiss, completely forgetting I was in a room full of people. That is until he let his hands move over to my ass, pulling me so close to him that there was no space left.
“Eros…” I complained half-heartily. “Don’t...”
He smirked when he noticed my breathing had accelerated. “Don’t tell me…”
I never found out what he didn’t want me to tell him though, since Greg came up to us at that point.
“So…” he said with a wicked grin. “You guys finally tied the knot, ay?”
“Erm… I think that expression is only used for marriages,” Eros replied dryly. “But yeah, I guess. We’ll get married eventually anyway.”
I blinked and stared up at him. “We will?”
“Well yeah,” Eros said confused. “I mean, we’re in it for the long haul, right?”
“It’s only been what… little over a week?” I said carefully. “I thought you were still getting used to even having a serious girlfriend?”
“Doesn’t stop me from imagining our wedding night.” He winked suggestively and smirked when he noticed that I was blushing. “Ahw, you’re so cute when you get all embarrassed by my jokes.”
“Barf!” Dylan said when Eros bent down to kiss my nose. “Seriously guys, BARF.”
“Here here,” Nathanial agreed. “And to think people complained once that Jen and I are all over each other. Never thought Dem of all people would ever get like this.”
“Yeah well, you were stupid enough not to act on it when she was still into you,” Eros replied calmly. “And now she’s all mine.”
“Yeah well, you can have her,” Simon cut in irritated.
When I looked up, I immediately realized that something was very wrong with him – I should have noticed earlier, since the bond was up and running, but I had been too focused on Eros.
“Amy texted,” he explained with a grim expression. “She’s not pleased with me at the moment.”
I had no idea how to respond to that, so I just walked over and gave him a hug. Of course that pissed off Eros, but there was nothing I could do about that. Anne saved my sorry ass by starting an epic Guitar Hero battle and I shot her a grateful look. She winked and then pulled me to the back of the room.
“You and Eros are awfully chummy,” she said with a little smile.
“I thought you hated him,” I replied surprised. She didn’t seem to mind my relationship with him anymore.
“Oh, I do,” she replied immediately. “But I love how happy he makes you, so he gets points for that. I’m nothing if not fair.”
I grinned when I felt Eros’ annoyance at Anne’s words. She had no idea that Eros, Dylan, Paulie and Sam could hear everything she said because of their supernatural powers.
“How’s Simon doing?” she asked concerned. “He seems real down.”
I shrugged. “One moment, he and his new girlfriend are all over each other, annoying the hell out of me with their constant snogging. The next, they are fighting and he gets all gloomy on me. I don’t know what to do about it – I’m the ex after all… my involvement only seems to make things worse.”
“Is there anything I can do…?”
I grimaced when I felt a wave of resentment and hurt coming from Eros. He’d never openly admit it, but he hated that my friends loved Simon so much while they merely tolerated him. Anne especially disliked Eros while she completely adored my other bondmate.
“You could stop texting you know who,” I said softly. “Seriously, Anne… it has to stop.”
She frowned and turned away from me. “I know, I just… can’t, okay? I’ll fix it, don’t worry.”
“Of course I worry!” I exclaimed, making a few people look at us. “Seriously Anne, what did you expect me to do?”
Will and Antwan were both looking at me with wide eyes – they were the only ones in here who knew exactly what was going on. And Eros of course. When Jen’s gaze met mine, I realized that she knew too. Looked like Anne had confided in her instead of me – that kind of hurt, but I couldn’t think about it for too long.
“I need to go,” Anne said, tears in her eyes now. “Don’t follow me,” she ordered when I started to walk with her. “I’ll come back right before you leave, but I really don’t want to see you right now.”
She stormed out, leaving me standing there like an idiot. I felt all alone even though I was surrounded by friends. Even when Eros hugged me close and stroked my hair I didn’t feel any better. Anne was my best friend, my oldest friend, the person I could always count on, even if she didn’t know everything about my new life as a vampire. And now, Antwan was coming between us, when even my transition hadn’t. Even me getting together with Eros hadn’t damaged our friendship. If she was letting a guy get between us now, it must be serious. Crap.