Ties to the Blood Moon 2nd Edition Page 21

  I squeezed her tightly one last time before I scooted back over into my seat, and turned on the stereo. My favorite Motion City Soundtrack song, “Everything Is Alright” was playing but I reached to change it anyway, figuring it wasn’t Aunt Bev’s type of music.

  “Don’t,” she shouted, scaring the crap out of me. “I love this song.”

  “Since when do you listen to this kind of music?” I was in shock while watching her lips move to the words.

  “Since always. I might not be a teenager, but that doesn’t mean I can’t like young music.” She glanced at me with a sly smile.

  I relaxed, settling deeper into my seat, and closed my eyes. I hoped that as long as Aunt Bev and my mom had each other they would be all right … even if I didn’t make it back alive.

  Chapter 42

  Now that I had things with Aunt Bev taken care of, I needed to talk with William. He had sent me a bunch of text messages earlier, but each time I saw it was him, I cleared my phone. Just thinking about him made my heart ache to the point I felt like a part of me was dying.

  Hey ;o) I messaged him while lying in bed, hot tears stung my eyes, but I quickly wiped them away. You have to be strong.

  Hi beautiful ;o) I was wondering if you had already forgotten about me. he texted right back, like he’d been waiting by his phone.

  No. I couldn’t forget you. Not after what you’ve done. I wanted to say, but didn’t. I want to see you.

  When? Right now?

  Nah, I can’t. How about tomorrow night? Can we meet and go to your family’s cabin? I needed him to think everything was fine, and I wanted us to be alone.

  Okay. Tomorrow night it is. I’ll pick you up at seven. ;o)

  No. I’ve got something to do. I’ll meet you at the cut-off. I couldn’t take a chance of my aunt catching me with him. Like I said, the woman was far from stupid.

  Sleep didn’t come easy for me that night. All I could do was think about William, and cry. Why had all of this happened to me? Just a year ago, I was a normal teenager with normal problems. It seemed like overnight my whole world had flipped upside-down, and I was an Adlet princess werewolf and by the end of the next night God only knew what I would become.

  I woke up crying out for William, my gaze flitted across the room. It took me a moment to get my thoughts in order before I realized I had the same nightmare, again. My mom’s screams sounded so real to me, my heart ached. There was something different about it this time though. In my last dream, William had coaxed me to jump from the cliff with the promise of catching me, which he did not.

  This time, William screamed for me to run away while he fought with Zane, trying to hold him back. When I reached the tree line I stopped and turned around at the exact same time Zane drove a long knife into William’s heart. William told me he loved me, then collapsed, and I woke up.

  I thought about the nightmare for a long time and when I finally glanced at the clock on my nightstand it was nine-thirty. I wasn’t sure exactly what time I had fallen asleep, but I never wanted to sleep again.

  What if I had judged William too harshly? What if somehow Joseph had been wrong, and William wasn’t working for Zane? If that was the case then wouldn’t William have told me? I was so confused. Every time I thought about the situation a huge knot formed in the pit of my stomach.

  Even after everything I had learned, deep down I was keeping alive the tiniest bit of hope that just maybe William wasn’t an evil monster like Zane after all.

  I sat up and stared at the ring the chief had made and placed on my finger. In the dimness of my room it still sparkled. I rubbed the stone against my shirt to polish it and when I looked at it again I could have sworn it glowed. I rubbed my eyes, then turned on my lamp and looked at it again. It sparkled from the light, but it didn’t glow. “Okay, Genevieve,” I mumbled. “You’re losing it, girl,” I smiled dimly, falling back into my pillow, and scooped my cell off the nightstand.

  I text messaged Luna to make sure she was awake before sending her the details for tonight. I made sure to tell her to memorize the message, and then delete it so unwanted eyes wouldn’t see it.

  It was one of the longest days ever. I was anxious as hell, so I tried to stay away from Aunt Bev as much as possible to keep her from noticing. Living in the same house, there was only so much I could do to avoid her.

  When six o’clock rolled around I was already freaking. Seriously, like mid-heart attack freaking. All the pieces of my plan had been laid out and were starting to fall in place. This was good. I thought if I could get through the night, I could get through anything.

  I put on some old clothes and threw my back pack over my shoulder. When I hit the landing at the bottom of the stairs I stopped and took a few deep breaths, trying to keep from falling apart in front of Aunt Bev.

  “I’m gone,” I called out as I headed to the kitchen. I had my hand on the back doorknob when I heard her call out from behind me.

  “Wait a minute,” she said, not unkindly.

  I flinched, but shook it off. I took a quiet breath and forced a smile before turning around. “Yeah?”

  “Nothing. I … I just wanted a hug before you left.” Her voice broke up. Aunt Bev must have known more than she was letting on.

  “Hey, I’m only going to be gone for a few days. You’re acting like I’m never coming back,” I said, trying to keep my tone light, but my voice broke up a little, too. I really hated lying to her about something so important and life changing, but I felt I didn’t have a choice.

  We hugged each other tightly for a long moment before I finally had to pull away and leave. If I would have hugged her any longer, I would have broken down and told her everything.

  While backing out of the garage, Aunt Bev leaned against the open doorway leading to the kitchen with her arms wrapped around herself. I rolled down my window and waved, and she waved back. I saw her wipe her eyes as she turned to go inside.

  When I pushed the shifter into first gear, I glanced back at the house. The garage door slowly closed and I felt a sudden ache inside my chest, like a part of my life was ending. I guess in a way it was.

  I pulled into the little gas station on the edge of town, grabbed my bag and hurried into the bathroom. When I emerged a few minutes later, I had on a tight blue jean skirt, a silky black camisole top, a short-cut blue jean jacket with the cuffs turned up, and a pair of black spiked high-heels. The guy behind the counter couldn’t stop staring at me. His mouth gaped open and he stumbled, almost falling behind the counter when he tried to reach a pack of cigarettes for a customer without taking his eyes off me.

  I tried to hide my amusement, but couldn’t. A man coming into the store held the door for me, and after I walked out he continued inside, but let the door close on his girlfriend or wife, whichever she was. That was all the convincing I needed. I had to know I picked just the right outfit for my tryst with William. I wondered when the time came if I would have the strength to not to let it go too far.

  Chapter 43

  The minute I saw William waiting at the cut-off I began to have second thoughts. My heart hammered so hard I could hear it inside my ears. When he flashed his headlights and pulled out in front of me, my cue to follow, there was no turning back.

  When I pulled up behind him at the end of the drive, I couldn’t believe the size of the cabin. That was definitely an understatement for what I saw. I thought my aunt’s house was a pretty good size, but I swear his house easily made three of hers.

  William opened his car door and stepped out. The second we made eye contact my heart started aching for him in a way I had never imagined. It grew worse as he walked toward my Jeep. I thought I was having a heart attack and then I realized I had forgotten to breathe. Why was it that with what I knew about him, he could still have that kind of effect on me? Maybe that’s what my mom meant when she had tried to explain what love felt like.

  When I was in eighth grade I had come from a school dance and told my mom I was in love. She s
at me down right then and had the sex talk with me. I already knew a lot about it from the girls I hung around, but my mom insisted on explaining it anyway.

  She was really cool about the whole thing too, not like some of my friend’s moms had been. She didn’t even try to tell me sex was bad or anything like that. She told me that sex was for two people who were truly in love and when I really did fall in love I would know. She explained how when your heart aches for him and when you feel like you can’t breathe without him, or you think about his feelings more than you think about your own, that’s true love.

  What she said had really clicked with me, and I guess that’s why I never had sex. I never felt that way about anyone … until I met William.

  He opened my door and I stepped down, but didn’t make eye contact at first. I suddenly felt very self-conscious about my outfit, and I tried to pull my jacket closed.

  When William didn’t speak, I looked up. He had a strange look on his face, and his jaw hung open.

  “What?” I asked, searching his eyes. “I look stupid, don’t I?” I flushed with embarrassment.

  “Uh …” he trailed off, and a huge smile covered his face. “My God, Genevieve … you’re the most beautiful girl I have ever seen,” he said sincerely, his eyes danced over me. He just stood frozen in front of me, like he was completely in awe.

  “Are we going to hang out in the driveway all night or …,” I trailed off, and smiled.

  “Oh, right. Yeah, come on. Let’s go inside,” he said happily, and placed his hand on the small of my back, guiding me to the door. He unlocked the door and pushed it open, leading me inside.

  When he flipped a switch and the foyer light came on, my eyes about popped out of my head.

  “You said you and your dad had a ‘cabin’ on the lake,” I said, doing air quotes for cabin while slowly checking out the room.

  “Technically it is a cabin,” he said trying to act serious. He pointed to one of the outer walls made from stacked logs. “See … it’s made from real logs, so that qualifies it as a cabin.” He cocked his head to one side and shrugged his shoulders while holding out both arms, palm up, trying to smile innocently.

  “You are so full of crap, William Novak. You know this is far from a regular cabin.” I had my hands on my hips, and furrowed my brow, but he knew I was only pretending to be angry.

  The living room was more beautiful than I could have imagined. It was a huge open room with a big overstuffed sectional couch on one side, facing a fireplace made from river rock. The side facing the lake boasted tinted glass from the floor all the way up to the two story ceiling. On the other side of the room was a large bar area, pool table, some arcade style games, and the biggest flat panel television I had ever seen. There was even a small row of slot machines.

  William showed me the rest of the house which consisted of a gourmet-style kitchen with a large breakfast nook, a formal dining room, five upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms, and a master suite on the main floor complete with its own deck and Jacuzzi.

  After the tour, he asked me if I wanted anything to drink, but I declined since I wasn’t sure if vampires ate or drink anything—I mean, besides blood.

  William took my hand and led me over to the couch. “Why are you here, Genevieve?” He asked sincerely.

  He had to have felt my hand trembling inside his. “I wanted to see you, that’s all,” I said, nervously.

  “Something’s up. I can tell.” He released my hand, and scooted away.

  I started chewing on the inside of my lip. “Why does it have to be anything? Why can’t I just want to be with you?” I asked severely, turning away from him so he wouldn’t see my tears.

  He sensed it or something, because I felt his hand wrap around my waist. He pulled me in close, but I still wouldn’t look at him. “If you tell me nothing is going on, I’ll believe you,” he whispered softly.

  I felt an aching in my chest and my eyes stung. I wanted to hate him, should hate him, but I couldn’t. Even though my heart had been ripped from my chest when I learned of his lies, I couldn’t hate him and I couldn’t lie to him either. It’s not the kind of person I was.

  I didn’t answer. Instead, I just shook my head. He lifted my chin, gently forcing me to face him.

  “Come on, Genevieve, don’t shut me out. Please.”

  I thought about what he said and I quickly became enraged. “Don’t shut you out? Don’t lie to you?” I shouted, jerking away from him. “What about you, William? Huh? Shouldn’t that be like, a two-way street?” I jumped up from the couch, and headed for the door. “This was a mistake. I never should have come here.”

  “Genevieve … wait,” his voice echoed through the room.

  At the same time I reached for the doorknob, William’s hand covered mine. He had to have run, but I never heard a footstep. I guess that was another thing with vampires … their agility.

  “Wait! Please tell me what all of this is about.” His voice sounded desperate, like he really had no idea why I was angry. What if I had been so quick to believe Joseph and it turned out he was the one lying, not William? No. I was sure Joseph had been telling the truth. He cared too much to lie to me, knowing I would eventually find out the truth and would hate him.

  I jerked my hand loose and spun around to face him. “You want to know? I’ll tell you. I know Zane sent you here to keep me from taking the throne. And your little rescue operation in New Mexico … it was all a set up,” I screamed. “I hate you, William Novak!”

  “All right,” he caved and threw his hands up in surrender. “I’ll tell you everything if you’ll just stay and hear me out.” he pleaded.

  “Oh. Now you want to tell me the truth? What … like the truth you told me in New Mexico? Or the truth you told me on the plane?”

  “I—”

  I held my hand up in front of his face. “It’s too late. You had your chance to be honest with me and you blew it.” I opened the door and started out, but stopped abruptly. “Besides, someone else already told me the truth … the whole truth. Let me give you some truth, William.” A single tear ran down my cheek. “I don’t know if I would believe you.”

  I walked out and slammed the door behind me, then ran all the way to my Jeep. All I could think about was getting the hell out of there. I would figure out a way to rescue my mom and defeat Zane on my own.

  I cranked my Jeep, stomped my foot on the gas pedal, and popped the clutch. I took off way too fast, but I was so hurt and angry I wasn’t thinking clearly. All I wanted to do was get as far away as possible from the source of my pain. I was sobbing and tried wiping away the tears using the back of my hand, but fresh tears replaced the old ones, keeping my vision blurred.

  I caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye, but by then it was too late to react. A Lycan quickly leaped from behind some bushes, landing dead center of my hood. Out of sheer reflex, I screamed and swerved.

  Chapter 44

  When I cracked open my eyes everything was fuzzy at first. I slowly blinked away the fog and found William sitting by my side. His sparkling emerald eyes had turned almost black, and he had this look on his face like he couldn’t breathe. I tried to sit up, but the pain in my head was so severe I couldn’t. He gently pressed on my shoulders until I lay back. I glanced around and discovered I was in a bedroom I had never seen before.

  “Where am I?” I asked in a maze of confusion and pain.

  William pressed a wet cloth to my forehead and when I pushed his hand away, I noticed it was covered in blood. I promptly realized why he had that look. He was a vampire, and it appeared I was bleeding profusely. He rinsed out the cloth in a large bowl of red stained water, and patted it against my forehead.

  “The bleeding is stopping now,” he said without emotion.

  “Where are we?” I was already starting to feel much better. I pushed the cloth away, and sat up. My head still pounded, and I felt a little woozy.

  “We’re in the basement,” he said quietly, and s
tarted cleaning up the blood covered towels thrown about on the floor.

  “Let me do that.” I tried to stand, but got dizzy and fell backward onto the bed.

  “You need to rest,” he said, not unkindly, but still very short with me. He disappeared from the room, but returned quickly with a soda he handed me.

  “Thanks,” I halfway smiled, and leaned back against the pillows. “Why are we in your basement?” I asked earnestly.

  “Lycans tracked you here. They’re outside … waiting,” he said, grabbing some fresh linens from a closet. “They can’t smell you down here. They can’t get in either. We’ll stay down here until your scent dissipates. It’ll take a while, though. I’m afraid you won’t be going home tonight … or anywhere for that matter.”

  “It’s okay. My aunt doesn’t expect me back for a few days,” I said, watching for his reaction but he didn’t have one. Any other guy would have been thrilled to be locked away with a girl for even one day, but it didn’t seem to faze William.

  “Why is that?” He stood facing me with his hands tucked in the front pocket of his jeans. He had on a tight black tee-shirt that showed off his exquisitely formed muscles, and his hair was perfectly disheveled.

  I smiled sheepishly and lowered my eyes. “Um … I kind of told her that I was, um, going to train with Luna’s family up at Bear Creek.”

  He walked over to me, taking a seat on the side of the bed. “I know you’re angry, because you think I’ve been lying to you, and the truth is, in a way I have. But not in the way you think.” He gently placed his hand over mine. “Zane thinks I’m working with him, but I’m not. Everything I have done has been to protect you. Zane is evil and very manipulative. The Amalric believes that somebody on the inside is secretly helping him. I had to live it and think it so everyone would believe I was working for him.”

  I couldn’t believe it, but everything he was saying actually made perfect sense. And Joseph had only thought he was doing what was best by telling me. Maybe the whole thing had been a big misunderstanding after all. Or, maybe he was working for Zane, and this was all just another part of the cover-up. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth when we were flying home? You hurt me so badly, William.” I felt tears starting to form, but I didn’t want to wipe at my eyes or it would have just made it worse.