I awoke at three in the afternoon to Nathan’s voice shouting downstairs. Kicking the covers off, I hopped out of bed, wondering whom he was shouting at, and lingered in the hallway to listen.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me this,” he said, seething. He paused before shouting again. “I don’t give a damn about your reasons, Anwar. You should have told me.”
It appeared Anwar did know something about my father, which meant the dark spirit must have been telling me at least some truths.
My mouth filled with salty saliva, and my stomach rolled with nausea.
“I don’t care if you wanted to wait until you got here to tell her. You have no fucking idea what it’s doing to her.”
Wow. I’d never heard him use the eff word before. He must be pissed.
“And you have no fucking idea what it’s doing to me seeing her like this.” There was another pause. “I doubt I’ll be able to see your motives behind this.” His tone dropped an octave, and then there was silence. I chewed on my fingernail until he spoke again. “Yes, I trust you, but I need to know everything you know right now,” he demanded. I could hear him moving about in the kitchen. A chair banged against the tile, and he started shouting again. “What’s that supposed to fucking mean? I’m too close to her for you to tell me the rest of it.”
What did that mean, and why would it make a difference? I didn’t get it. All he had to do was tell Nathan to make our life a little easier. Any bit of information would help us, but it was obvious he wasn’t going to tell him. I leaned against the wall, tasting the sour bile rising in my throat.
“I have to trust you on it? That’s a bunch of horseshit. Do you realize the magnitude of sorrow and pain she’s in and how helpless I feel because I can’t do anything about it?” His voice shook with anger and frustration.
I thought about him hurting because of me and felt a sharp stab of guilt. If I could, I’d push him away. But I knew I couldn’t do that, or bear the thought of him not being in my life. I hated being selfish and felt like crap for it. Maybe I should at least give it a try and think of him instead of my selfishness.
“I don’t think you do understand. She found out, not from you, but from a dark spirit, her father had been marked for immortality and didn’t accept it!”
That did it. I ran to the bathroom, flipped the toilet seat up and hurled, thankful I had put my hair in a braid last night. I couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation through the retching noises I made, but not too long after, Nathan stood by my side. I tried to tell him to go away, but gagged instead. I stuck my head back in the toilet bowl, heaving one last time, my ears burning from embarrassment.
“Are you okay?” he asked, kneeling beside me.
“Yeah, sure.” I went to the sink to brush my teeth and thought about my selfishness while he stood behind me and placed his palm on my forehead. He didn’t need to go through this. What he needed to do was go get Anwar.
“I’m sorry if I woke you.” He dropped his hand and stepped aside. His presence reeked of tension and anger–all because of me.
I straightened my back and turned. “No, I’m sorry.”
His face went blank like he couldn’t comprehend my words.
“I’m sorry for putting you through this,” I continued. “And I think maybe you should leave.” I grasped my shaking hands behind my back. “I also think you should go get Anwar before I end up like my father.”
The space between his eyes wrinkled, and he bit his top lip. I turned when I saw the sadness enter his eyes. I washed my face with my chest pressed into the marble sink, forcing pressure against the fisted pain threatening to knock me to the floor.
“Paige.” His voice sounded strangled. He cleared his throat. “Do you really want me to leave you?”
I didn’t move, knowing the look on his face would demolish me.
“No, but I hate causing you so much pain, and it’s selfish of me to keep you here.”
He turned me around and held my shoulders in his hands. I continued to stare at the floor.
“Please look at me.” My gaze slowly lifted to his, and his eyes were raw with emotion. “I don’t want you to feel sorry or shameful for allowing me to see what you’ve kept walled inside you for so long, and you’re not being selfish. If I didn’t want to be with you, I wouldn’t be.”
“I never want you to leave me,” I said, still feeling bad. “But I hate seeing you hurting because of me.”
“Baby, don’t you understand? Your pain is my pain, like my pain is your pain. That’s part of being in love.” His hands moved to the back of my neck, his fingers lightly stroking it, setting off a wave of tingling sensations across my skin.
I nodded and smiled at the fact he called me baby again.
“I love you and want to be with you forever.” He kissed me. It was soft and sweet.
“I love you too,” I said when our lips parted, and he kissed me again.
“How are you feeling?”
I shrugged. “Fine. It was only nerves. So, what did Anwar tell you?”
The anger he felt earlier flashed across his eyes.
“I’ll tell you after you get dressed.”
“Okay,” I said, flushing the toilet.
“Do you think you can eat something?” He had a hesitant look on his face, like he wasn’t sure if he should have asked me that.
“A toasted bagel with cream cheese sounds good. Oh, and some coffee.”
“I’m on it,” he said and disappeared.
Beyond the Eyes: YA Paranormal Romance Page 30