Tabitha’s mouth went dry. “Did… does Sebastian know?”
“Yes, but don’t blame him Tabitha. He was under strict instruction not to tell you.”
Tabitha pulled her hand free from her mother, anger and hurt burning in the back of her throat. She got to her feet. How could her mom lie to her like that? “Do you think I’m going to turn into Marcie? Become unstable? Is that why you never told me?”
Her mom jerked to her feet, shaking her head viciously. “No, no of course not. Tabitha, I would never think that of you.”
“Then why never tell me? I could have handled it,” Tabitha shouted, backing up to the threshold of the kitchen.
“Your father didn’t want you to know. He thought it would hurt you.”
“He didn’t think I was strong enough.”
“No! Not at all. He wanted you to grow up as a normal girl. He didn’t want you to have to grow up with the legacy of Marcie around your neck.”
Tabitha swallowed, throwing her hands up. “You don’t get it! I have! I may have never known her or the story or why I was so different from everyone, but I grew up with that legacy on my shoulders. It would have been better if I had known. At least then it wouldn’t have been such a mystery to me. Something that I could never understand or grasp.”
“Tabitha please,” her mom begged, taking a step toward her.
Tabitha shook her head, holding a hand up. “No. I need some time. I can’t… I can’t do this right now.”
“Tabitha!”
Tabitha spun on her heels and ran out the door. She started the car and hit the gas, speeding back the way she had come. To the school. Her mom was right. She didn’t blame Sebastian. She blamed the Carters, her mother… did Derrick know? Tabitha wouldn’t be surprised.
She needed to get away from her house and her mother for some time.
Chapter Twenty
Tabitha was just getting out of her car, trying to staunch the thoughts whirring through her head when someone tapped her shoulder. She jumped and spun around, fist out. As if a punch to the face could stop a vampire attack. Who she found instead simultaneously made her stomach drop and her heart skip a beat.
Sebastian folded his arms and grinned, cocking his head. Tabitha sighed and grinned back, letting her trembling hands drop to her side. “Jerk. You scared me.”
“Yes, because a good punch to the face would have hurt me... As if you could actually hit me,” he taunted.
Tabitha smirked and lashed out in a surprise attack. She itched for a fight. Something to distract her from all she had learned today.
Her fist connected with his shoulder and pain erupted in her knuckles. He didn't even flinch. She scowled and shook the pain from her hand, glaring at him.
He smirked. “Nicely done. Now... should we go to class or do you need to go to the nurse to have that looked at?”
She rolled her eyes and gave him a nasty look. Tabitha turned her back on him and started toward the school building. He fell into step beside her. And then in the silence between them, last night came flooding back. Tabitha swallowed. Their kiss... kisses. The way she had grabbed him and planted one on him before leaving his car. The way he made her feel invigorated and thrilled. It had both been romantic and something she'd needed. For a moment those memories made her forget what she had found at the Carters, and Tabitha couldn't hold herself back any longer. She needed a distraction desperately, and Sebastian seemed to be her best bet.
Sebastian opened his mouth, his face troubled but Tabitha didn't let him get a word out. She grabbed the front of his shirt, and glancing around, yanked him into the shadows behind the stairs leading into the school building. “I don't want to talk right now. I had a pretty crappy half an hour and I just need to forget,” she whispered. And then she pulled him toward her and kissed him. If she couldn't fight him than she could find another way to distract herself.
Tabitha kissed him with a need and a want she couldn't explain. She wanted to get lost in him, drown in him like she had last night. Forget everything. Forget that Mr. Carter thought she was a bomb about to explode. Sebastian didn't fight back either. Not at first at least. He pulled her in close and kissed her with the same need and want that she had as if he couldn't get enough of her.
She grinned against his lips, her whole body melting and just before she completely lost all sense of time and space Sebastian pulled away, gasping and gripped her hips, locking her in place. “What’s going on?” he gasped out. “What happened?”
Tabitha stared up into his concerned green eyes, wishing it was easier to tell him. It was easier to confront her mom and be mad at her for lying then it was to be mad at Sebastian. This was all new to her. The feelings swirling inside her, making her feel alive and awake and known, she didn’t want those to go away. She didn’t want her anger to burn them out of her. Tabitha wanted to see where this thing was going that she and Sebastian had.
“I went to the Carters. Jonas said he had something… so I went to check it out for myself. Turns out my mom’s been lying to me all my life. You were brought in to train me… but do you know why?”
The sheepish look on his face and the way he glanced away in guilt was all the answer Tabitha needed. Her jaw clenched. “You know, don’t you?”
He cringed, his shoulders drooping in defeat as he nodded. “Yes… But I had explicit instructions not to say anything. Just that I was called in to train you for the trials.”
“They think I’m so dangerous and out of control that I needed a vampire as a teacher, someone to watch me,” Tabitha growled, her voice burning with anger. Her hands curled into fists against his chest, but she made no move to back away from him. She was mad at him for keeping this from her but… his hands on her hips, his touch, being close to him? Tabitha needed that to ground her. After the sucky morning she had had, maybe she just wanted to give herself a moment of weakness to fall into him.
Sebastian shook his head, his eyes simmering. “You’re none of those things, and I didn’t come here to keep you on a leash or to spy on you.”
“So you haven’t been reporting to the Carters?” Tabitha asked, eyes narrowed.
Sebastian’s head dipped down so they were practically nose to nose. “I would never do that,” he whispered, fierce and protective. “I don’t believe you’re weak, and I don’t believe you would ever cause harm to the Moirai. At least not intentionally. You’re an amazing, skilled hunter and they would be crazy not to want you in their ranks.”
“That’s the thing, though. The only reason they want me in their organization is to keep an eye on me and to use me. I’m not some inanimate weapon to throw at the vampires. I’m a person too. I want to be a part of the Moirai, but I also want a life. I want to be treated fairly, and I want to earn my spot there. If I do the trials now… I wouldn’t have earned anything. They’ll let me in whether I succeed or not, whether I scare them or not because they want to keep me close. And I’m not OK with that.”
Sebastian nodded, his thumb rubbing against her hip idly. “What are you going to do then?”
Tabitha sighed, staring up at his eyes as her hands relaxed against his chest. “I don’t know yet… I guess I have a lot of thinking to do. But at least it clears up why Alistair is so obsessed with me. Because he wants me on his side as the ultimate weapon.”
“I’m afraid so… I didn’t just come back here to train you, Tabitha. I was around you so much at first because I wanted to protect you from him... but now, I'm not sure if I ever want to leave your side.”
Tabitha's cheeks warmed and despite the dire situation, she couldn't help but smile at that.
Sebastian smiled too. “I won't let Alistair hurt you or harm any of your family. I'll do everything I can to fight him. You're the strongest Sterling I've ever met Tabitha, and I've met a lot of Sterling’s. You'll be just fine.”
Somehow, she felt like she'd known Sebastian forever even though it had only almost two weeks. He knew her so well. Knew exactly what she needed whe
n she needed it. Her heart fluttered at how close they were, and she got another urge to grab him and kiss him. To thank him for helping her feel better about herself and about her future.
Her pulse quickened as she took a step forward but before she could reach him, he bridged the gap himself, faster than humanly possible and grabbed her face in his hands. He kissed her, and Tabitha got lost in him. Her whole body heating at his touch, her heart pounding wildly, her confidence in herself solidifying once more. She got so lost that by the time the warning bell went off both of their hair were messy and tangled and their clothes rumpled. Tabitha laughed, all her troubled thoughts from the last half hour almost completely gone as Sebastian grinned against her lips and she gently pushed him away, dipping down to grab her backpack. “We should probably go in... Don't want to be late for class,” she whispered.
He smirked and stepped back, his hand never leaving her cheek as he stooped down and grabbed his backpack, eyes only on her. “You're probably right. I will see you at lunch.”
He lean in close to her and kissed her one last time. Slow and steady and then he disappeared, leaving Tabitha out of breath and still reeling from what she'd found at the Carter's.
Chapter Twenty-One
“And now, I don't know what to do. Derrick's coming over tonight too so it's not even like you can come over and help me figure out what I am doing with my life. He’s only coming because we have a three-day weekend and mom’s hoping we can all have a nice, chill extended weekend together,” Tabitha said, throwing her hands in the air after lunch. Chelsea leaned against the locker next to hers, a look of shock on her face. She'd sat there for the last twenty minutes, slack-jawed as Tabitha described her morning to her. Minus anything to do with vampires. She had told her she and her mom had gotten into an argument, and she didn’t want to talk about it.
She clutched her latest romance novel to her chest. “Well... I think you just need to figure out how you really feel. The whole no labels thing never works out. Either you like him, love him or you don't. Either you guys are together or your just friends. You can't just be 'Tabitha and Sebastian.' That's kind of weird.”
Tabitha made a face. Chelsea had a point. She was deluding herself if she thought they could go by without a label. Pretending that these kisses meant nothing… that Sebastian meant nothing to her. She was lying to herself even more if she didn't admit to herself that she had feelings for Sebastian. Maybe more than feelings. More than “like.”
Maybe...
But after their night out and the kissing and the hunting and the killing and then how he made her feel so accepted and so... wholly herself without any shame? Tabitha couldn't pretend she didn't feel something towards him.
He wasn't scared of her or concerned for her mental wellbeing because he understood how she worked.
A small smile spread across Tabitha's face, and she shut her locker, gripping her book in hand. She knew what she needed to do. It wouldn't be easy with Derrick in town, but she would find a way to make it work. She and Sebastian needed some time alone, so she could figure out what to do with him.
“Your sort of amazing Chelse. Thanks for the advice,” she said as they walked side by side through the halls.
Chelsea grinned, her cheeks blushing pink from the compliment. “What are friends for?”
Tabitha flashed her a thankful smile, muttered something about seeing her at lunch and headed down the opposite hallway toward her Biology class.
***
In the cafeteria at lunchtime, Tabitha found Sebastian and Chelsea talking at their usual table and when she slid into the seat between them, they both fell silent.
“What are you two talking about?” she asked, giving Chelsea a suspicious look.
Chelsea shrugged back to her book and biting into her apple. “Nothing... Just the paper for history class.”
Tabitha glanced at Sebastian who just shrugged too and propped an elbow on the table, leaning his chin against his hand.
“So... you want to know what I found out from Keller or do you want to grab me and kiss me again?” he whispered, cocking an eyebrow suggestively.
Tabitha rolled her eyes at him, unpacking her food. “Tell me what he said,” she said, unwrapping her sandwich.
He smirked as if he'd won some sort of battle and scooted his chair a little closer, so they could talk without Chelsea or anyone else overhearing them. His green eyes became intense and dark as he recalled what Keller had told him. Tabitha leaned forward, taking a bite of her sandwich. “I was late to school this morning because I was busy interrogating Keller. He didn’t know as much as I had hoped. However… he said Alistair has a double motive for being here. Kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. Try to sway you to his side and do some spying on the hunter community here.”
Tabitha’s eyes narrowed. “What does he want with the hunter community?”
“Well, if he can get into the Carters’ base of operations, you know they have all kinds of files in there. On hunter families… on certain vampires and Soothsayers they keep an eye on.”
Tabitha set down her water bottle, deciding it best not to eat or drink anything for the rest of the conversation. She might spew it all over the table if he told her anything else.
Sebastian nodded grimly. “And you can see why it's reason for concern that he knows about the Carters. Which is why Carlos is over there right now warning them.”
Tabitha undid her water bottle's cap and took a drink, reassured. Thank goodness for Sebastian's quick thinking. Carlos could help protect the Carter's and the information they had. And also try and keep the other families safe too. They had to find Alistair now. More than ever before.
“Carlos is going to have the other families warned as well and make sure they redouble their efforts to protect themselves from vampires. I know it's not a lot, but it is a start. Though I'm still not sure what sort of files he could want from the Carters.”
Tabitha mentally went through all the files she had seen while snooping on Mr. Carter's computer. There were plenty of files there that could benefit a murderous, vengeful vampire, which meant she would need to make sure to warn her mom and her siblings.
“Do you think he’s after a particular file? Like a particular vampire or hunter… besides me, of course,” Tabitha asked.
Sebastian racked a hand through his dirty blond hair. “With Alistair it could be anything… But there is some good news. Keller gave me a potential location.”
Tabitha’s eyebrows shot up. “As in… potential Alistair location?”
Sebastian nodded, grinning. “Yep.”
“Why didn’t you lead with that?” Tabitha shout-whispered?
He chuckled and shrugged. “I guess I just wanted to hold you in suspense.”
Tabitha smacked him playfully on the arm. “When can we go?”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves… I want to be completely prepared for whatever Alistair might hold in store for us. I saw we wait for the weekend. Do some training, build our strength and then hit him hard. He’s staying in some flat in the city.”
Tabitha itched to jump out of her chair and go to that flat right now. She wasn’t sure she had it in her to wait, to play the long game even though she knew Sebastian was right. It was better to go in prepared than to jump in head first. “Alright… I guess I can wait. Sort of.”
Sebastian grinned, reaching out to touch her hand with his. “Thank you. I promise, it will be worth the wait.”
Tabitha grimaced and almost jumped out of her seat when Chelsea cleared her throat. “Hey, I'm going to head to Art, so I'll see you after school. Or you know just text me. I'm sure you'll have plenty to talk about after tonight,” she said, her voice full of implication.
Tabitha turned and made a face. “Right... I'll see you later.”
Chelsea snapped her book shut and waved as she went to carry her food to the garbage can. Sebastian gave her a questioning look when Tabitha faced him again. “What does she mean, plenty to
talk about after tonight?”
Tabitha made a face. “My brother’s coming to town tonight…”
His eyebrows shot up. “You didn't tell me your brother was coming. How are we supposed to train all weekend and check out Alistair’s place if he’s going to be here? I'm sure you want to spend time with him.”
Tabitha shoved her mostly uneaten lunch into her bag and shrugged. “I was going to tell you. I'd rather hide out at your place.”
He grinned and stood with Tabitha. “Well then I will see you bright and early tomorrow morning for some training and getting ready. I say we pounce on Sunday.”
Tabitha pointed at him and smirked. “Sounds good and don't you dare go easy on me.”
Sebastian held up his hands, his eyes dancing with laughter. “I wouldn't dream of it, Sterling.”
As they left the chatty cafeteria, he looped an arm around her waist and pulled her in close. Tabitha froze, her breath catching in her throat as his lips brushed her cheek and then her ear.
“I'll see you later,” he whispered. And then he disappeared.
Tabitha gasped, backing up against the wall, her heart pounding in her chest. How did he manage to do that to her? Make her heart race and her knees go weak all at once?
She gave herself a minute to compose herself and then walked away from the cafeteria, wishing she could go to his house tonight instead of having to spend the evening with her siblings. Tonight would be painful. Not being able to see him. Not being able to talk about him. But she would have to deal with it. Tomorrow she would see him all day and wouldn't have to leave for any reason.
She grinned. Tabitha couldn't help but think that that sounded sort of perfect.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Tabitha set down the last plate–the glass ones her mom only took out for special get-togethers–and glanced at her mom who was busy in the kitchen. “So, when is he coming? Why is Derrick staying at the inn?”
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