“Ethan will rip you to shreds when he finds out what you’ve done.” I spat.
She let out a short bark of laughter. “Seriously? After you humiliated him in the office? I’ll be doing him a favor! No one’s going to find you, you’ll be one of those sad missing girls that no one gives a fuck about, and after a few days, everyone will have forgotten you.”
“Like everyone forgot about Zara?” I asked.
“You won’t even be a headline like she was.”
“You’re lying! Ethan will find me!”
She closed the space between us and bent down to show me something in her manicured palm. She held the rice-sized microchip that Ethan had implanted under my skin. It had been crushed into several pieces. “Aww…look what I’ve done? Guess nobody’s going to find you now.”
I glanced down at my hand, which still bled where she cut it.
“You dug the chip out. What the fuck, Aster? I’ve never done anything to you. What’s your problem?”
“My problem?” She screamed shrilly, “My problem? First Zara and now you! Ethan should be with me! I’ve waited and waited for him!”
I cleared my throat and asked, “You were together?”
She sniffed and shook her head, “No. But I know he loves me! I’ve done everything for him! I love him! I’m not going to stand by and watch a weak little human bitch take him away from me…again!”
I brought my bound hands to my face, brushing my hair away. My voice was raspy from yelling. “Aster, he and Zara were never together, I asked him about her.”
She dropped to the sand. “You don’t know what it’s been like. Waiting for him…all this time.” Dusting off her pants, she made a pout with her perfect pink lips. “He just doesn’t know what he wants, but sooner or later, he’ll realize the feelings he has for me.”
I pulled my knees up and slumped over them.
How could I get out of this? Should I commiserate with her? Side with her? Or be honest and tell her she’s acting crazy…which would be justified considering my position.
Meeting her eye, I spoke, “Aster, I’m sure Ethan cares about you, but he cares about me too. How do you think he’d feel about you doing this…to me, or anyone?”
The Barbie sucked in a breath and glowered at me. “You’re just human—you’re food. You’re a plaything to him.”
I shook my head. “If you think that, then why are you so freaked out?”
She ignored my question. “If you think he’ll be able to track you—he won’t.” She held a red gas container. “I’m done playing with you, and now I just want you gone.”
“Listen, wait! I can talk to Ethan and ask him to go easy on you!” I sputtered.
She shook her head and began pouring the gasoline over me. It stung as it washed over my cuts and scrapes.
“What the hell?” I sputtered as she drenched me in the chemical. “Mother fucker…” I murmured, pulling at my bonds. Ocean waves made their shushing sound as they flowed in and out.
“Help!” I screamed, “Help me!”
“You dumb bitch. No one’s around. No one’s going to hear you. I’m going to step on you like the ant you are—the way I stepped on Zara.”
Aster pulled a stick out of the fire, the end was still aflame.
“Don’t. Don’t! Wait!” I pleaded, trying to scramble away but only managing to fall face down into the sand.
“Sorry, did you say something?” She frowned, “I hear nothing, but I do like to watch you squirm.”
“You could drink some of my blood. I’ll let you,” I told her.
“What? So that you don’t feel what’s going to happen to you? No. You deserve to suffer!” She cried.
I began backing up toward the waves as Aster poured a trail of gas toward the bonfire. When she threw the red container into the fire, it flared up with a bright burst.
But instead of the flames coming toward me as she intended, the fire followed the gas for only about a foot before flickering out.
I continued to inch toward the water, but she seized me by the ankle and dragged me away.
“What do you want? I’ll give you whatever you want.” I told her.
She held a lighter to her lips. “Hmmm…tempting. Whatever I want?” She paraded around, pretending to contemplate her desires. It would’ve been amusing if I hadn’t been drenched in gasoline and tied up.
“Aster, we’re friends,” I said, trying to make my voice friendly. “Ethan doesn’t need to know what happened here.”
“Tempting, but Ethan already suspects me!” She spat. “He texted me to meet Mel back at Dumont. So, now I’ve got to get rid of you. Make sure he has no proof. The damage has already been done.”
“What damage? Nothing is done.”
“No, you dummy. He’s going to fire me, and I’ll be reported to the Clan.”
When she turned her back to me, I dove toward the water.
She spun and advanced on me. “You’re not going to get away! Stop fighting me! You won’t win!”
I shook my head. If I was going out, I was going out fighting.
“You know what?” I shouted as I floundered in the waves, “You’re a crazy stalker! You’re just mad that Ethan doesn’t want you! How many people have you murdered? You’re pathetic!” I narrowed my eyes.
“You don’t get it. You aren’t one of us. You’re food, and that’s all…” She waddled through the water and backhanded me, hard.
“What about Zara? Was she just food also? Why would you kill her?”
She looked down at her hands. “I don’t get it. Ethan spent so much time with her. He was my life, and…and she just took him from me.”
A heavy sigh escaped my lips, “This is ridiculous! She died for no reason.”
She blinked tears from her eyes before looking back up at me, “I wasn’t sure about Zara and Ethan, but I’m sure about you. You can’t have him. Don’t you get it? You aren’t special.”
“And you are? Ethan will hate you for this.” I said firmly.
She ran her hands through her silver blond hair. “Only if he finds out! Moroi and humans can’t be together! And you…you ruined everything for me. You don’t even know the kind of mess you made! You know nothing of our world, which is why you shouldn’t be in it at all!”
Nearing me, she clicked the lighter, and a flame popped up before getting knocked out by the wind.
I flopped back and fell into an icy wave, the water crashing over me, taking my breath away.
The blonde woman stalked angrily through the wet sand, pulling me back onto the beach. “Don’t worry, you’ll burn even if you’re wet.”
Then I remembered it—the dagger.
As Aster fiddled with the lighter, I slowly began to pull the dagger from beneath my shirt.
Finally, just as I nearly had it in my fingers, Aster touched the lighter to my drenched pants. When it didn’t light, she screamed in frustration.
“Why won’t you die already?” She screamed before trying to bite my neck again.
But I was either lucky or quick again because her fangs sank into my shoulder. As they did, I plunged my silver dagger as hard as I could into her stomach.
The vampire stumbled back, screaming, and I thrashed, trying to free my wrists and ankles.
Then Aster went silent, and I twisted to see what had happened. She struggled with someone in my peripheral vision.
“Help me! Help!” I shrieked into the black night.
And all of a sudden, my Avenging Angel was there before me.
Ethan knelt down and began to cut my bindings. “Oh my god! You’re safe. I knew something had happened when I tracked you to your last location; I could smell your fear.”
“It’s Aster! She killed Zara! She’s gone crazy! She was going to kill me.” I panted. “How did you find me? My chip—she cut it out and smashed it.”
“Aster’s chip,” He sighed. “After I talked to you, I had a hunch about who erased your memory. Mel had seen her leave with you that da
y. I had suspected Aster when Zara was killed, but we had no proof.”
“She admitted it to me. She was jealous of Zara….You should be careful, she’s obsessed with you.” I croaked, my voice gravelly from screaming.
Ethan wrapped me in a blanket and led me up the steep cliff path to a small parking lot that overlooked the area.
Settling into the back seat of his waiting car, I looked up at my vampire as he stood on the edge of the cliff. “You must hate me for what I did—yelling at you in the office. Accusing you. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
“I was mostly worried.” He blew a breath out his nose. “I thought you trusted me.”
“I do. I swear, I do. Now more than ever,” a tear ran down one cheek, and I swiped at it. “I’m a total asshole. Just tell me we aren’t over.”
The corner of his mouth twitched, but his eyes remained on the beach below. He was waiting for Mel.
When Ethan turned back to me, his pale eyes met mine. “Don’t doubt me again.”
“I promise I won’t.”
He looked back toward the beach below. “The office was empty. No one saw you except Mel.”
I let out a hysterical giggle. “Great! Mel already hates me.”
Ethan did his euro shrug.
Then speak of the devil, Mel crested the rise and strode toward us. She smoothed her black hair into a new ponytail and said, “It’s done.”
Ethan nodded.
“Where’s Aster? What happened?”
Mel turned toward me as she buckled her seatbelt in the front seat. “She’s gone.”
Ethan sped through the winding streets like a man possessed, his jaw ticking.
Mel touched his arm and whispered, “Calm down, it’s over.”
But he was agitated all the way home and through the iron gates and into the Dumont compound.
When he stopped in front of Mel’s house, he clasped her arm. “I guessed at what Aster was. Yet, I allowed her to work and live around humans anyway….” His voice cracked. “She almost killed Caroline.”
Mel reached over with her other hand and squeezed his shoulder. “We weren’t sure, but now it’s over. She’s gone, and Caroline’s okay.”
We both watched as she strolled up to her door, ran her hand over the scanner to unlock it, and disappeared.
Ethan considered me in the rear-view mirror, the strain and fear in his eyes making my heart squeeze.
Fear because of me? Strain because of what I’d done?
I tried to smile through the dried tears and blood on my face.
“You protected me, see?” I held up the silver dagger.
He made the short drive back to my townhome without speaking. When I stepped out of the SUV, he wrapped an arm around me and led me to the door.
As we entered the house, I gazed up at him. “Mel’s right, you understand that? None of this is your fault.”
“Is it really worth it?” He asked, his eyes tight.
I stood on tippy toes and kissed him. “What do you mean? Why would you even ask me that?”
“Being with me, is it worth it?” He asked again.
I shook my head. “Why would you even ask me that? I made this choice to be with you. I came into this relationship with my eyes wide open. Of course, it is! I’m just an idiot. I should’ve trusted you.”
He just turned away. “I need to think.”
Sucking in a shaky breath, I pulled at his t-shirt. “You won’t stay with me?”
“I can’t right now.” He jerked away, pacing the entry.
I nodded, “Okay…” I love you, I almost said but stopped myself.
I took the longest, hottest shower of my life, scrubbing every inch of my body—twice. When I emerged, my skin was red and scraped, but I felt clean with only a hint of gasoline.
I tried to wait up for Ethan but ended up falling asleep a little after midnight.
Early that morning, as the sun had begun to rise, I heard the shower running before my vampire crawled into the bed beside me.
I reached out, and he pulled me into him. Sleep washed over me, and I didn’t wake until late the next day.
Yanking myself from the bed, I rushed to the bathroom and back. It was 10:36 am on a weekday. When I heard Ethan in the kitchen, I slowed my frantic movements and pulled a robe on. Padding into the main room in bare feet, I smiled.
“Hey, you’re here.” I grinned, squeezing him into a tight hug.
“Coffee?”
I laughed, “Do you even need to ask?”
Sliding my cup over to me, he stood opposite the bar we’d made love on.
“Do you want some toast?” He asked, warily.
“What’s up with you? Why are you acting so weird? I can make my own toast.” I told him, sipping my cup.
“No, it’s all right, I’ll do it. Stay there.”
I watched as he pulled the sprouted grain bread from the freezer and slipped a piece into the toaster. His actions, which should have been domestic, were tense.
All the air seemed to have been sucked out of the room as we waited without talking.
When he slid over the buttered toast, I narrowed my eyes at him. “What’s wrong?”
“Eat your breakfast,” he ordered.
Raising my eyebrows, I took a bite and struggled to swallow it. Finally, I pushed the plate away.
“I can’t. Talk to me, you’re freaking me out.”
He wore a dress shirt today and work pants, but he was here—midday.
None of this added up.
“I never taught you to resist mind control because I knew a day like this might come.”
“A day like what?” I laughed, but it came out false.
“We can’t go on like this any longer. You need to choose.” He told me cryptically.
Shaking my head, I scoffed, “Choose? Choose what?”
He pushed a stack of paperwork over to me, but it wasn’t in English. “I don’t understand. I can’t read this, you know I can’t read this.”
At the top was a symbol, and in small letters, it read Moroi Global Council.
“Global Council? Ethan?”
His jaw ticked. “I can’t be with you as a human. You’re too vulnerable. I have real enemies outside these walls. Evil enemies, a lot worse than Aster.”
I leaned back in my chair, trying to make sense of his rambling.
“I have permission to change you.”
My brain seemed to freeze inside my head. “Change me?”
He let out a shaky breath. “Or I can erase myself from your memory. Erase everything that happened with Aster, the mountain lion, and even the car crash.”
I swallowed and shook my head, “Erase my memory? No, no.”
“Then, I need to change you, but there are things you should know before you make that decision.” He stood there, arms crossed, feet apart as he watched me.
“What? That’s it? I either become a vampire or get my mind wiped?”
“Because every moment of every day, I will worry, and I’ll know that I put you at risk. After everything that’s happened, this is the only way our relationship can go forward.”
“The only way in your mind.”
“The only way this will work,” he motioned between us.
I rested my head in my hands, my elbows on the counter. “So, I’d drink blood? What else? That can’t be too difficult.”
“You might not be able to teach again. Some moroi suffer from blood lust.”
“And…?” I trailed off.
“And they’re unable to be around humans. There is also the chance that you could die during the change. I’ll have to drain you until your heart almost stops.”
I stood and paced my side of the counter. “I have to decide right now?”
He breathed out a heavy sigh, “Yes, I’m sorry. This way, I’d know you would be safe.”
“So, if you erase my memory…”
“You go on to teach at that private school, believing you and I had a professional relati
onship and nothing more.”
“I wouldn’t remember you? I won’t remember anything? What about you? Will you remember me?”
The corner of his mouth curved up in a bitter smile. “Yes. I’ll remember everything. But if you’re not with me, I need to erase your memories of my world—of moroi. I would never want you to come looking for me or others like me.”
I leaned against the post on the island and sucked in a breath.
“What do you want me to do?” I asked, afraid of the answer.
He turned away from me and gazed out the window. “I think you’d be happier if I erased your memories.”
A fire burned inside me, building from my core and filling my body with something I didn’t understand, something greater than myself.
Was I willing to fight for Ethan?
Was I willing to lay my pride aside for him?
My nostrils flared as I sucked in a breath to speak.
I vowed I’d never say it first.
The L-word.
But I had to say it to Ethan. I had to try.
“I’m not leaving you,” I bit my lip as my eyes filled.
My vampire turned on me, surprise in his face.
“Why? To be like me?”
“No, you dummy! Because…” I swallowed hard. “Because I love you!” Tears began streaming down my face. I could only hope that he felt the same way. Still, everyone’s words to me about my vampire haunted me, made me wonder if I were just a plaything or one of many or a distraction.
I had to trust. I had to believe in him even if it broke me.
When he finally spoke, my heart was in my throat. “God, I thought I’d never hear those words from you.”
I stood and walked around the bar. I tried to be brave, but fear made me tremble. I stumbled over the words, afraid of what his answer would be. “If you love me, I’ll let you change me. I’ll give up everything for you. But if you don’t…” I couldn’t finish that sentence.
He shook his head, that beautiful smile on his lips. “How can you even say that? Of course I love you! God! I wanted to tell you that in Romania, but I thought I’d scare you off.”
Bloodthirsty Bastard: A Hero Club Novel Page 20