by V. Vaughn
Alexander chuckles. "Fair enough. It’s not usually a problem, though.” He gives me a sly smile. “In my experience.”
I’m not about to ask him to elaborate and say, “I'm sure some women do like anal too. Even if it's just a fantasy, so I don't think you should stop writing it."
"Noted."
"Can we move on to something else? Like why you made Jax be such an ass?"
Alexander grins. "Bad boys sell."
I think about the women who used to fall all over Aiden when they heard he wasn't one to fall in love. They seemed to take his disinterest as a challenge. "I can see that."
"Don't worry. Kara wins over his heart. You'll see."
I roll my eyes at him, because even though I haven't read romance books before, even I know the girl always gets her guy. I wonder who's chasing Aiden now, and if he even misses me. I let out a sigh, and Alexander asks, "Thinking of the one you left behind?"
I give him a sad smile. "Yeah. But he wasn't really mine. He was my best friend who didn't know I was secretly into him."
"Ah. Friends to lovers. I know which book you should read next."
"Great." I wave my hand at him in a shooing motion. "Now leave me alone. I have to find out how Kara tames Jax."
Alexander chuckles as he walks away.
Before I finish the book, Bertha returns, but with a glass of blood by my side, I manage to ignore her well enough to keep reading. When I'm done with the story, Alexander and I go over the social media accounts, and I help him with ideas for Kitty's release campaigns. He looks at me a few times with an expression of awe I suspect is from the way I'm handling my bloodlust.
As we near the end of the workday, I'm irritable from fighting my urge to feed. I'm working at Alexander's desk as he uses Sebastian's, and my keyboard clicks as I try to type a word right for the third time. "Damn it!" I let out a sigh and try to take a deep breath without using my nose. "My family island is getting more attractive by the second."
Alexander picks up his phone, and his fingers tap as he says, "I'm sending her home early."
"No. I can do it."
He smiles at me. "Yes. You can, but I think you've suffered enough, and she'd be leaving in a half hour anyway."
"Thank you."
"Want to cut out early too and shoot a little pool?"
I shrug. "You're the boss."
"Not for long." He stands up and leads us out of the study toward the ballroom. "I don't think you'll be working for Kitty Kane once you meet your father. Still rejecting the idea?"
"No," I say. Alexander raises his eyebrows at me as we walk. "My bet is that he'd find a way to meet me no matter how I feel about it, so I might as well accept it."
"Good thinking, because you're right. Sebastian and I can keep your vampire status a secret for a few more days, claiming we wanted to keep you safe, but eventually, it's going to be our duty to let your father know we have you."
We enter the ballroom, where the pool table is still in the location Alexander and I placed it yesterday, and balls thud on it as the two of us pull them out of the pockets to rack up. "What do you think will happen when he finds out?" I ask.
"He’ll likely want you in his care."
I gaze at my new friend and think of Adly too as I wonder how much I'll get to see them after I leave. While I've lived a transient lifestyle over the past few years since college, I never worried much about making friends. I usually knew a few people wherever I was going, and I don't have a problem acclimating to new situations. My stomach knots up with nerves as I think about moving to the island without knowing anybody in a world I don't completely understand. It would be nice to have a friend by my side. "Do you know anyone who lives there?"
Balls rumble across the felt as Alexander breaks them. "I do. They all love it." He walks over to line up a shot. "You won't be stuck there for long. Your control should be public-ready soon, and many of the island residents boat to shore to enjoy mainland activities."
I think about the four vampires I know. Sebastian, Alexander, and Adly are great, but Liam lured me behind the restaurant with one thing in mind—feed to kill—and I'm afraid to find out how many vampires are like him. I feel like a pathetic girl when I ask, "So I can come visit you?"
"Of course. Adly and I would love to come do some midnight surfing and cliff hopping with you too."
"I'm sorry. I know I sound insecure, but I'm not sure how the vampire world works. Are most like you? Or are there a lot of Liams?"
Alexander misses his last shot, and he steps aside to let me take my turn. "There is definitely evil in the vampire world, and you're going to find out things that will be disturbing. But there's plenty of good too."
"Don't laugh at me, but do I need to learn how to fight?"
He doesn't laugh. Instead, Alexander's tone is serious when he says, "Yes. And I suspect you'll excel at that too."
A chill runs down my spine before the cue ball cracks as I hit it in an attempt to show I'm not bothered by my new reality. But when my ball hits a spot way off from the pocket, I know I'm not hiding anything. Alexander says, "Nothing will be pushed on you before you're ready, Lyndsey. Your island is as safe as it gets." Alexander's gaze is intense as he says, "As a member of the royal family, you will be in danger when you come to the mainland. I'm sure your father will explain everything, but I don't want you to be surprised."
"The O'Kellys have enemies?"
"Like any dictatorship, there will always be those who think they can run things better and those who refuse to follow laws." He leans down and taps a ball into the corner pocket easily.
"Ah. Like the do-not-kill feeding rule."
He nods.
"Would I be in danger here if I were alone?"
"Nobody knows you exist yet, so you'd be fine. But it won't take long before word gets out." He chuckles and moves to take his shot. "Ever have a coming-out party?"
I flash to an image of me in a formal gown and white gloves like a debutante. "No. Way."
"Way. I expect your father is going to introduce you in style." I groan as Alexander laughs. "Don't worry, Princess. I'll spread the rumor you're a surfing tomboy who sucks at pool." His final ball thuds into a pocket, and he offers me a cocky grin. "Maybe in a hundred years or so you'll be ready to beat me."
I snort. "Please. I'll have you long before that." I toss the cue ball up so that it almost touches the two-stories-high ceiling, and it slaps hard into my hand when I catch it. "One year. Tops."
"You're on, Princess."
I glare at him, because I'm not a fan of the nickname, even if it is my official title. I picture a glittery tiara and sigh. While I'm certainly in favor of my acute adaptability to being a vampire because I'm royalty, I'm not looking forward to the formal duties that will no doubt go with it. I think about how my human life was so simple. I had very few material things, lived in a different place every six months, and loved it.
As Alexander racks up the balls for another game, I shake off my mood. I should be grateful for the gifts I've been given, and I remember my vow to make my new existence the best it can be. Even if I have a feeling it comes with a very big price.
10
Maggie
Elizabeth and I are scared. The heart monitor beeps at an irregular beat that would be annoying if you were trying to dance to it, and it's terrifying when you know what it means. My body is rejecting my heart, and I'm waiting for confirmation from Dr. Gilbert so I can get out of here and live the last of my life anywhere but in a sterile room.
When I woke up weak and short of breath this morning, Sebastian and Adly brought me to the hospital. And once I got here, I insisted they leave. Too many years of watching my mother's hopeful face fall with disappointment are burned in my memory, and I couldn't stand to see it happen to Sebastian or Adly too. Besides, this is my fight, and neither of them will let me quit.
"Hi, Maggie," says Dr. Gilbert as he approaches my bed. A chair scrapes as he pulls it over so he can sit near me. "Let's
talk about your heart." His blue eyes crinkle at the corners with age, and his face is kind.
He speaks matter-of-factly. "Your body is rejecting it, and you need to stay while we get it sorted out.” His voice fades as a rush of blood fills my ears, and I register him talking about surgery and drugs and tests for me to endure over the following weeks.
All of what he is saying, I’ve done before, and since my chances last time were bad, they’re only worse now. When I can no longer take it, I interrupt him with a stone-cold-sober voice. “You and I both know with my history, it's not going to work."
"I wouldn't say that. There—"
"Don't. I know there's always hope, but I was barely healthy enough to get this heart in the first place." I put my hand on my chest, and Elizabeth fills me with sadness. I wonder if she's known this was happening, and if that was why she was trying so hard to get me to be with Sebastian. The pain of loss fills me. She wants one last time with her true love. I say, "I won't spend the remainder of my life fighting a losing battle and living in the hospital, Doctor."
I'm too numb to cry, and I'm glad for it, because I need to make him understand I'm leaving today with or without his approval. "I figured it out once,” I say. I shake my head as I reach down and remove the heart monitor clamp from my finger. “I slept more than half of my nights as a child in a hospital." I glance around the room as my voice gets hard. "This has become my version of hell. So you can sign the papers for me to leave or not. I'm going either way."
"I see." Dr. Gilbert stands up. "Who is here with you?"
"No one who can change my mind. I'm an adult and capable of making my own decisions."
"Maggie, I think you need to give this decision more time."
"I'm sure you do. But come on, Doctor. You have to know what my life would be like trying to make my heart work. Would you wish that on anyone you love?"
He sighs, and I think he understands why I don't want to fight. "Can you wait until I get medication for you? Drugs to help ease your symptoms."
I feel bad that I'm causing this compassionate man pain. "Yes. Thank you."
He takes my hand and begins to peel the tape over my IV. "Maggie, I'm so sorry. There is so much we can do as doctors that it makes me proud to be one. But when we fail..." He blinks quickly and looks at me with tears in his eyes.
He presses a wad of cotton on the hole in my skin from the needle he just removed, and I say, "Two men will be coming to get me. Please respect my right to privacy concerning my condition."
"Of course, Maggie." He turns, and as he walks away, his head bows.
My chest tightens with Elizabeth's grief, and she manages to break through the icy exterior I put up between us to make me tear up too. The moment my door shuts, I fall apart. My sobs wrack my body as if I’m letting out every emotion I’ve ever suppressed, and my lungs burn when I manage to suck in gasping breaths. During the years that led up to my transplant, I ran through all the stages of grief over my short life and accepted that old age would escape me. Even after I got my transplant, I knew I was living on borrowed time and that it could all come to a screeching halt with a heart attack.
I’m not going to let my final days be in a hospital, though. I’m going to savor them. I force myself to stop crying and dig deep to find the protective barrier I have to build around me. I make my way to the sterile bathroom to splash cold water on my face, and I finger-comb my hair before I take a deep breath and morph into the strong version of Maggie Evans I’ve honed over the years.
Like in most hospitals, nobody seems in a rush to spring me. I have plenty of time for the blotchy redness on my face to fade, and I get dressed before a nurse brings me the medications Dr. Gilbert offered. I listen to the kind woman's explanations, and when she's done, she asks, "You're sure about this?"
"I am."
The larger woman surprises me when she wraps her arms around me and whispers, "God speed, honey. God speed."
Fresh tears I didn't expect burn in my eyes, and I blink to keep them in check as I croak out, "Thank you," before she lets me go. Sebastian and Adly arrive just after she leaves, and I sniff as I wipe at my eyes quickly.
I speak as cheerfully as I can muster. "Boy, am I glad to see you two. I'm starving for real food."
Sebastian looks at me with concern. "What's your prognosis?"
I let out a sigh. "Well. It was what we expected. I've been overdoing things and need to slow down for a while." A wheelchair bangs against the door as an orderly pushes his way in, and I walk over to sit in it. My bag of medication rustles as I hold it up. "So now I have a ton of new meds to take, and soon I'll be as good as new."
Adly smiles down at me in my wheelchair as we move down the hall. "I think a SpongeBob marathon is in order."
"Definitely." I glance over at Sebastian. "I'm sorry to put a hold on Kitty's tour like this."
"Don't be. Your health is more important than book signings."
"Thank you for being so understanding."
When we get in the elevator, Sebastian's hand is heavy on my shoulder. "No need to thank me, Margaret."
I catch myself reaching up to put my hand on his when I remember his blisters and ask, "How's your sunburn feeling?"
"Much better. That ointment of your mother's is magical."
I chuckle. "Right." Sadness fills my heart, and I know I need to give Elizabeth her goodbye too. "We could also have a classic-movie marathon."
He smiles at me as the door whooshes open. "I'd like that."
A car horn echoes off the concrete walls of the parking garage as the orderly wheels me out of the elevator, and I stand up as I spy the limo ahead of us. "I've got it from here. Thank you."
As Adly holds my hand to help me into the car, I remember my fantasy of arriving at a red-carpet event like the Academy Awards for a nomination for best picture based on Kitty Kane books. But even then I knew it was nothing more than my imagination, because it has all been a lie. I'm not Kitty. I haven't had the life experiences with love the Hart brothers have had or the writing skills they've honed for decades through two previous pen names. I'm just a small-town girl who had big dreams and a brief chance at realizing some of them.
I lean back on the cool leather of my seat and smile, because my short time with the Harts gave me something I had hoped for—true love. I close my eyes and recall my first kiss with Alexander. The cool breeze from the ocean blew around us as waves crashed on the rocks. I remember how the cliff we sat on was cold under my thighs, but my insides were hot enough to be melting when Alexander's lips met mine. It was the kind of kiss romance books talk about. I let out a contented sigh as I think about the way his playful gaze can lift me up and fill me with joy. I found my soul mate, and that is more than I knew to hope for.
"It's nice to see you smile, Margaret."
I open my eyes and look at the disfigured face of Sebastian Hart as I offer him a small smile. I wanted to make him a monster for taking Alexander away from me. He said that I couldn't be Alexander's soul mate because my heart, Elizabeth, isn't his. And now that I know Alexander was the one who decided to leave, I wonder if it was so he could avoid heartbreak. What would our love have been like if I'd come here as a different girl? A healthy one with her own heart. I let out a small noise, because I bet I wouldn't be here at all if I had been. Sebastian hunted down the girl who received his true love's heart, and the rest of why I'm here was created as a ruse to make me come and stay.
I can't fault Sebastian for masterminding a plan to get me to live with them, because now that I understand the depth of his feelings for Elizabeth, I believe I would have done the same. I certainly don't regret moving to the Hart mansion. The last few weeks have been wonderful, and I've experienced intense emotions of love, desire, anger, and fear. I got my taste of living large. And I have Sebastian Hart to thank for it.
"Sebastian?"
"Yes, Margaret."
"What movie would you like to watch?"
He gives my question a moment of
thought before he answers. "An Affair to Remember. Have you ever seen it?"
I shake my head as I frown, trying to place the name since it sounds familiar.
"It's a serendipitous love story."
Since fate is why I'm sitting across from Sebastian now, I understand his choice. I reach for his hand and smile. "That sounds perfect."
11
Maggie
A fleece blanket is soft in my fingers as I tug it up. I'm on the couch of our hotel suite, waiting for Sebastian to cue up the movie on his laptop. It was decided we'd spend one more night in the hotel before returning to Port Porpoise. Lyndsey is still at the Hart mansion, and Alexander thought with her bloodlust, it would be best if they moved her out before I returned. Since I'm tired, I told Adly we should do our cartoons tomorrow with breakfast, so it's just Sebastian and me.
Sebastian asks, "Can I get you anything to drink? Some popcorn or any other treats?"
I'm comfortably full from my dinner and say, "Nope. Want to share the couch with me? I can move over."
He smiles. "You stay right where you are. I'm fine in the chair." He gets up and goes over to the mini bar to get himself a drink, and ice cubes clink in his glass. "While you take time off, would you like to see your mother?"
I turn to look at him and wonder how he plans to make that happen when she's not supposed to know anything. Spending time with my mother is something I haven't figured out yet, because while I do need to see her before I die, I have to find a way to do it so she doesn't know I'm sick. "Of course, but I didn't think I could."
"I can bend the rules for you, Margaret." He comes over and lowers himself into the chair. "When you're sick, it's nice to have your mother."