by LJ Baker
"Well, you're in with them and I'm sure they trust you. Since you're the only one around here besides Jewel who has fought with me, or seen me in action, I figured maybe you could put in a good word for me."
Willow wasn't interested in making new friends. Okay maybe the idea of some girlfriends wasn't so bad, but it had never worked out in the past, so why would this time be any different?
"Isn't your bestie hooking up with Gabriel? I'm sure his words carries way more weight than mine."
"Gabe felt it was inappropriate for him to get involved since he didn't really know Ember and that it was an abuse of his power." Jewel looked away when she spoke. Even she knew Gabe had a stick up his ass.
"He suggested that we speak to you," Ember said. "And that maybe you could use some friends around here anyway."
"Is that so? Gabe has decided that I need some companionship. So nice of him." He was becoming just like Michael and Willow didn't need two big brothers in her life. One was more than enough.
"Look, I know this is awkward since we really don't know each other."
"And yet you want me to stake my reputation on you?"
"You did see me fight. You know I can handle the job. All I want is for you to say that. And if you don't think I can. Then that's fine too, but I don't think you feel that way."
Willow had battled with Ember and Jewel to save Gabriel. You'd think that ungrateful bastard would remember that part and speak up on Ember's behalf. Without all three of them, he'd be toast.
But that was one day. One afternoon really. Willow didn't know either of the girls before that day and she certainly hadn't gotten to know much more since. That might have been because Willow hadn't cared enough to get to know them, but that was irrelevant.
So they'd only invited her out to get a recommendation. They weren't interested in her, just what they needed from her. Typical females. Not that Willow cared. She wasn't looking for a group of girlfriends.
It just pissed her off that everyone always wanted something from her. Ember wanted her to put in a good word. Jewel wanted her to help her best friend. Chase wanted sex. Well, she'd wanted that too, but still. She wasn't sure what Cole wanted yet, but she was sure it would come out.
The only person who ever cared enough to be in her life without anything in return was Michael. He wanted to protect her, to care for her, to love and be loved in return. There was no ulterior motive behind his actions.
Is that how life was? Only your own twin could care about you without wanting something in return? Everyone else was just out for what they could get off you? That was Willow's experience so far. Mostly she was fine with it. She told herself she was anyway. But every now and then, when she was faced with yet another person wanting something from her, she felt a little twinge in her gut that made her feel differently.
Maybe just one time, she wanted someone to just want to be in her company with nothing else at stake.
"So will you talk to Samuel for Ember?" Jewel looked at her with those wide green eyes, those same eyes that Willow had seen herself in not that long ago.
She wanted to tell them no. She wanted no part of it and couldn't care any less whether or not Ember got a job with security. But she couldn't. Somewhere deep inside her made her nod her head and speak words she never intended to say. "Yeah, sure. I don't know how much good it will do, but I'll say something."
Jewel slide her chair over and threw her arms around Willow for a crushing hug. "Thanks so much."
Willow wasn't sure what to do with the girl wrapped around her body. She certainly wasn't a hugger, but part of her didn't completely hate it either.
After an awkward minute, Jewel released her and picked her menu back up like the three of them were all good friends. "So what are you girls having? I think I'm going to have the lobster salad sandwich."
Willow wasn't sure what to make of either girl, but she picked her menu back up and went about picking some lunch. She might as well get some lunch out of the deal. Even if part of her wasn't completely against the company either.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
"Ah we meet again. How about we start over this time?"
Cole appeared in front of Willow as she was walking back to the training facility after lunch. Her day was going weird enough without seeing that idiot, but she was trying to stay positive.
"No thanks." She tossed her long black hair over her shoulder and continued walking at a leisurely pace.
"Look, I know last time I creeped you out a little, but that honestly wasn't my intention. I just thought that if you knew I wasn't a bad guy, then you'd give me a chance." Cole continued to walk backwards so he stayed right in front of her. She'd hoped he'd trip or walk into something, but the bastard was entirely too graceful.
"You thought wrong."
"Oh come on."
"What exactly do you think you have a chance for here anyway?" Willow stopped walking and it took him a few seconds to realized and go back to stand right in front of her. She could feel his breath on her and she didn't like it.
It wasn't Chase.
"To be friends, of course."
"Oh yeah? Friends? That's all you want from me?" Willow snorted. She had little doubt that he had other things on his mind. All men did.
"Yes. Just friends. We're both relatively new in this region and neither of us is winning any social butterfly awards. I just thought we could both use a friend. Seriously, I'm not looking for anything else. I understand you have something going on with Chase and I—"
"I do not."
Cole furrowed his brow and tilted his head. "You aren't with Chase? I got the distinct feeling that he thinks otherwise."
Willow shrugged. "I can't be held responsible for what he thinks." Even if part of her wanted it to be true. Maybe.
"Fine, then you're not with him, but that doesn't change anything. I'm still just looking for a friend."
"Okay friend, then maybe you can do me a favor, you know, since we're friends."
"Uh, okay." Cole furrowed his brow and waited for her to elaborate.
"You meet with Samuel about the security job?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"I have another friend who's interested in the job too." The word friend rolled off her tongue surprisingly easy. Willow thought for a moment that she even liked the way it sounded. Then she shook it off. "I was thinking about approaching Samuel about considering her. Any advice on how to talk to him?"
Cole still looked confused, but he followed along. "He's not the most trusting, or friendly. I say you just be yourself. Go right in there and tell him why your friend deserves this job. At this point, I think they're looking for as many good people as they can get. Can I ask who this friend is?"
"Why do you care?"
"Just curiosity." Cole held his hands up. "If I know who it is, maybe I can put in a good word in case anyone happens to ask me."
"Why would you?"
"Because we're friends now and that's what friends do."
Willow wasn't really sure what friends did to be honest, even though he was trying to be cute. She'd never had a single friend in her life. Other than her twin and he really didn't count.
"Are we?" Willow slid her hand up to her hip and waited for him to defend his position. She was ready to tell him they weren't friends, that she didn't even know him, nor did she care to. Instead, he smiled and nodded, melting her resolve.
"You know I'm growing on you."
"Fine. We're friends." Willow pushed him aside and continued on her way to the training facility. She needed to hit something or do some magic. Something had to get her back to her normal self. She wasn't sure what was up with her today, but she was definitely off her game.
In fact, she'd been so distracted she didn't notice before she turned a corner and walked straight into Samuel.
"Watch where you're going, witch." Samuel wiped off the front of his clothes as if she might have contaminated him in some way.
"I could say the same to you." She looke
d over him with her lip curled. It was no secret that Willow didn't care for the arrogant vampire. He just strolled in and acted like he owned the joint. Okay, so maybe some could say the same thing about her, but she wasn't bothering anyone. Samuel was.
"Do you think that's a good idea?" He raised an eyebrow and glanced over her. It was clear that Samuel thought he was better than Willow. She was used to males like him. She'd been around them her entire life.
"Maybe, but I tend to be the queen of bad decisions."
"Then it's time you started making better ones."
"You could be right." Willow figured it would be better to be cordial since she actually wanted something from the asshole. "I did want to speak to you about something."
"Coming to my office would have been a better idea than slamming into me on the street."
"You're probably right." Willow gritted her teeth and forced a smile. "So can you spare a minute since I've already run into you?"
"Make it quick. I have things to take care of."
"It's about the new recruits to the security team."
"What about them?"
"I've had the opportunity to see Ember in action, when she helped save Gabriel. I think she would be an excellent choice. You should give her a chance."
"I've already interviewed several people and chosen two more to join us. I'm not sure we need a volatile dragon-shifter in our ranks."
"Don't be such a bigot." Willow huffed. "She is an excellent fighter and dragons tend to be the most loyal of all the others, much more so than vampires."
"You don't think too highly of your own kind, blood witch. You are half vampire, are you not?"
"I am, but it is my witch side I embrace."
"Good to know."
This wasn't going how she intended. It wasn't like she was invested in Ember enough to care one way or the other, but she did give her word that she would speak to someone, so she owed her good name at least that much.
"You can at least talk with her and make up your own mind."
"Why do you care? I got the impression that you didn't associate with anyone but your twin."
"That's not true. And because she's a friend, not to mention the best choice for the job anyway."
"Are you willing to stake your reputation on that?"
Was she?
"Yes."
The word came out of her mouth before she'd even had the chance to think it over. She hardly knew Ember. Sure the bitch could fight, but that was one time and Gabe's life depended on it. Since he was her best friend's mate, she was highly motivated. So, that could have been an adrenaline-fueled fluke.
"Okay." Samuel nodded. "I'll consider speaking with her, but more so because Gabriel already asked me to consider her."
"Asshole."
"Excuse me?"
Willow intended to say that in her head, but the words tumbled from her lips before she could stop them. It was the truth though. He had to know that about himself, and if not, she was doing him a service by letting him know.
"I think we both know what I said." Might as well own it.
"Is that how you always ask for favors?"
"Yeah. Look, either you can consider her, or not. I don't even care." With that, Willow turned on her heel and sped away.
She shouldn't have talked to him that way. Michael was happy in this place and he wanted to stay. It wasn't right for her to do things that would jeopardize his happiness. He deserved that much, at least. But she couldn't help herself. Or maybe she could, but she just didn't want to.
Willow was sick of males like Samuel. They thought they were better than anyone under them, especially females. She wasn't going to play that game with any male ever again. If she had something to say, she would say it.
Though she really did care about Michael's happiness.
He never really talked about what went on with him and Julian when they were held as his slaves. She knew the awful things that happened to her, but Michael refused to talk about what he went through. Willow still wondered what horrors he endured. Of course he told her it wasn't that bad, but that was Michael. He wouldn't want to worry her.
Guilt pulled at Willow. It wasn't a feeling she let creep in too often. She owed Michael more than that. Which meant she'd have to apologize to that asshole Samuel. There were only so many strikes against them that would be tolerated before they were asked to leave the region. And since it was looking like Michael was finally finding someone he was into, she didn't want to ruin that for him.
She just wasn't sure she could avoid it.
***
"You wanted to see me? Is everything all right?" Chase stormed into the room toward his sister.
"Yes, everything is fine. Calm down. I've just been going stir crazy here and Kaia is sick so she can't come over and put the babies at risk. Why are you so hyped up?"
"You mean you didn't look into my head the second I got here? Or maybe while I was still in the hallway?" Chase flopped down in the chair across from his sister. He wasn't in the mood to have his privacy violated as usual around her. He knew she couldn't control it since she was pregnant, but it didn't piss him off any less.
"I do try to stay out, you know?" Ari was paler than usual and her stomach was probably twice the size as the last time he saw her.
"Doesn't make it any less annoying, sis."
Ari sighed. "I know. I'm sorry."
"So how are you and the spawn? Any more weird pains?"
"Not really."
She was lying. He always knew.
"And we're fine. Dr. Song says that baby A is still growing faster, but she doesn't see anything that we should be concerned with."
"Not that she really knows. Has she ever seen a case like this? A part nephilim knocked up by a vampire?"
"No, but the midwife has. You know that Alexander's father and his wife were in nearly the exact same situation, right?"
"I guess. Except that Lily is more nephilim than you."
"Than us. You're the same as me, Chase."
Chase laughed. "Not anymore though, sis."
Chase tried to completely forgive his sister for having him turned into a vampire, but he probably would never get over it completely. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy his new strength and abilities. Or that he wasn't grateful to be alive, if that's what you called it. It was more that he wasn't given that choice. She took it from him and decided what she wanted was more important and he wasn't sure he could ever fully forgive her for that.
Ari looked down at her swollen feet, well in the direction of them anyway. Chase was sure she couldn't actually see them past her huge belly. "You know I'm sorry about that."
Except she really wasn't.
Chase knew that Ari would make the same choice every time, even if she had a thousand more times to make it. She couldn't bear to lose her twin and he understood how that felt. After almost losing her, he honestly got it. But that didn't make him any less bitter.
"So what does the midwife say?" Chase shook off his ill feelings and tried to focus on the fact that he loved his sister more than anything in the world.
"She thinks it's not going to be much longer. She said that Lily's baby grew normally, but there was only one of him, so it's hard to know how a normal set of twins might act in this situation."
"You ever consider that maybe one baby is vampire and the other is like you? Maybe the little vamp is sucking the other twin dry."
Ari's eyes widened and she swallowed hard.
Clearly she'd never thought of that possibility.
"You think that's possible? They don't have fangs yet, right?" Ari clamped her hands over her belly and Chase heard her heartbeat triple.
"Hey, calm down. I'm sure they can't do that. Lex would have said something by now. He knows how vampire babies act in the womb, doesn't he?"
There weren't a lot of vampire births, but they weren't so rare that the vampire king shouldn't know what the norm was. Then again, he was so preoccupied with Vampire City affairs an
d the missing kids, who knew if he would even notice anything was wrong.
Chase knew he wasn't being fair. Alexander loved his sister. There was no doubt about that. That didn't mean he had to like him. Or think he was the best mate for this twin. Even if maybe he was, as far as vampire mates went anyway. Chase would much rather see Ari with a nice human male, but it wasn't like he could pick someone out for her.
"I guess so. I mean the midwife deals with other births regularly, so she must know. Right?"
Ari was close to panic, and of course, that was his fault. Chase couldn't seem to handle anything right these days. He could blame it on being a new vampire, but that would be a load of shit and he knew it.
"Of course, sis. Everything is going to be fine. You know, I bet it's just because baby A is a boy. He's going to be a big guy and is getting a jump start. Your little girl is going to be a little petite princess. Literally, right? These kids are royalty so they're going to be prince and princess? Or is that just if they are vampires? This shit is so confusing."
"It doesn't matter whether they're vampire, nephilim, or human. They technically will be prince and princess, but we are so not calling them that."
"Right. Don't want them having their father's ego."
Ari snorted. "Certainly not."
Chase laughed. It was rare that she said anything negative about her beloved vampire king. Usually, when Chase joked about him she defended him. Did Chase sense a little trouble in paradise? And why did a little part of him internally smile at that thought?
"Everything all right with you two?" He had to ask. You know, to be a good brother.
"Yes, Chase. Everything is fine. Are you waiting for the day that I tell you it's not?"
"Of course not." Chase answered quick, hoping she wouldn't pick up on the doubt even he had about his answer. She raised one eyebrow. Too late. She'd picked up on it. She was probably listening in right that moment to his ridiculous internal dialogue.
"Uh huh." Ari shook her head and popped an apple slice into her mouth.
"Okay fine. You know how I feel about him and we both know I can't hide that. Even when I try. I just want to make sure you're being taken care of."