That was all it took. A few weeks of watching Eden read, and he knew he had to give this a chance. He had to prove Eden for Cyrus.
In the beginning, Eden was on the defensive, but amazingly she seemed to like the fact that Noah was unruffled by her biting personality; the biting personality that disappeared surprisingly quickly once she grew to like you.
Noah’s reports back to Cyrus had been mostly positive so far… but still inconclusive. Eden had complained to him that her parents were pushing her into having this family party, like a debut, for her and she didn’t want to do it. With having so recently and effectively awoken Eden’s hunger, Noah knew what she was actually talking about was the Awakening Ceremony.
She was fighting her parents on it.
That was brave of her. And Cyrus was pleased.
Noah felt a ‘but’ float across his eyes as Eden once more growled low under her breath as she glared over at Maria Roth. Eden was on the fence. One wrong move and Noah was sure she’d give into her nature.
Eden curled her lip up and he watched her hands tighten into fists. A few seconds later they relaxed and she turned back to him, her pretty features smoothing.
“You know, I’ve never understood Twinkies,” she said as she pulled one out of her brown bag.
Noah shook his head.
And then she’d go and say something kooky and utterly human like that, and he was back at square one.
Chapter Three
Family Values
“What the hell are you doing in my room?” Eden snarled as she stormed into her bedroom. Despite the fact she’d managed to catch up on her history homework in detention, it had still been mind-numbing. The sun was just starting to peek through the clouds when she’d been inside, and then as soon as detention was over the rain started lashing down. To make matters worse, the check engine light on her car had come on ten minutes from the house. She’d gotten home OK but if she told Ryan he’d want to put the car in the garage to be looked at. The Winslow mansion, a grand home built in the style of the southern antebellum plantation house, was outside of town, a good twenty minute drive into wilderness, which would mean Celine would have to give her a ride back and forth to school… and that was just an uncomfortable addition to the day she’d like to avoid. So she hadn’t said anything, but just thinking about the pros and cons had given her a headache. And now this. Her cousin Teagan lounging on her bed like he belonged there. Creepy S.O.B.
Teagan grinned at her and sat up, tossing the only teddy bear she owned between his hands. It was a panda bear. She’d had a little of obsession for them when she was eight and Stellan had surprised her one day with the bear. Her parents had not been amused, but Stellan hadn’t cared. She’d kept the bear in pristine condition ever since. Seeing it in Teagan’s hands made her want to rip his throat out. But then… anything he did made her want to rip his throat out.
“Hello to you too, babe.” He winked at her.
“Ugh. Don’t call me babe. And get out.” She crossed her arms over her chest and willed him to leave with the power of her glare.
Teagan stood up and instinctively Eden wanted to step back. He was about Noah’s height, a little shorter than Stellan, but just as broad. His pale eyes ran the length of her body, slowly, measuring, trying to own her somehow just with that look. She shivered and he smirked. “Ryan sent me to talk to you about the Awakening Ceremony.”
Eden scoffed, “He actually thought you’d be the one to convince me to do it?”
“Eden, babe, you gotta do it sometime.” He bit his lower lip and narrowed his eyes. It was a practiced expression that Eden knew worked on all those girls he destroyed. Teagan was good looking, but Eden reckoned you only needed a little bit of intuition to know there was something off about him. Seriously off. “I mean what’s the hold up? Are you worrying about killing someone, because I can assure you that you’ll feel better once it’s over?”
“Oh yeah, like you ever felt bad about killing someone.”
This time when he stepped towards her, Eden did take a step back. She knew Teagan had been using the basement for his own perversions for the last few years. He was as sick in the head as Ryan. Eden thanked God Stellan denied that repulsive side of his nature.
“No. I haven’t.” Teagan smiled. “But then that doesn’t make me the freak here, Eden. No that would be you. Look… your daddy is getting a little impatient.” He stopped now, inches from her, her eyes level with his throat. “You know Ryan listens to me,” he reminded her of her father’s favouritism as he brushed a hand down her cheek. Eden flinched back and Teagan snarled, gripping tight to her chin and jerking her head back, forcing her to meet his eyes. “You play nice and I might buy you a little time.”
She felt the bile rise in the back of her throat. The disgust must have read on her face because his grip tightened. “Play nice?”
His eyes flashed, the way they did during a feeding, and he slid the pad of his thumb down her cheek and to her mouth. It felt like little bugs crawling all over her flesh. “A little appetiser before the main course perhaps…?”
Teagan was referring to the insane fact that her father had promised Eden to Teagan when she turned eighteen. Never mind the fact that they were first cousins or that it was you know… the twenty first frickin’ century! She had no say in the matter apparently.
Well, she had some say…
Eden bit down on his thumb, piercing through flesh. She tasted the coppery bitterness of his blood as he cried out and pulled back. “Over my dead body,” she hissed, wiping at her mouth.
There was no surprise when Teagan reached for her, viciously tearing the collar of her shirt as he tried to haul her towards him. The surprise came when Eden exploded in impotent rage. She kicked up between his legs, inciting a loud bellow of pain from him, and then she shoved him with all her might. Teagan shouldn’t have budged, let alone careen across her huge bedroom and collide with the wall with enough impact to crack the plasterwork.
Her mouth fell open in astonishment as Teagan’s wide eyes met hers from his spot, slumped on the floor. Teagan was all the way one of the Blessed. He fed on souls a lot… he killed and took entire souls into him. Like Ryan, his strength was unparalleled among their kind. So how could Eden, who had never tasted a soul in her life, propel him across the room like that?
“What the…”
“Eden!”
She whirled around as Stellan came rushing into the room, Ryan and Celine at his back. Her brother took one look at her torn collar and flew at Teagan. He got in a few brutal punches before Ryan hauled him off. Stellan staggered back, his knuckles slick with Teagan’s blood. Her cousin got to his feet unsteadily, his broken nose already snapping back into place. He wiped at the blood on his face and glared at Stellan.
“What the hell happened?” Stellan strode over to her, taking a hold of her chin gently and tilting her face up to examine it. His concern washed over her in comforting waves, and she fought the urge to hug him right there and then. At six-four, with the build of a linebacker, Stellan was intimidating. But then he’d smile that goofy smile of his and all your fears just melted away. He was able to feed no problem. People instinctively trusted him. And if you were anyone but a human, you could trust him.
“Teagan just doesn’t understand the word no, that’s all.” Eden shrugged, trying to not make it into a big deal when it was.
“Son of-”
“You,” Ryan interrupted Stellan, his eyes boring into his nephew. “I told you to keep your distance until her eighteenth birthday.”
“I was just-”
“Shut up,” Ryan snapped, his handsome face contorting into the face of a monster as he gripped his nephew’s shirt to pull him towards him menacingly. “You touch her again before it’s time, and I’ll castrate you myself.”
Teagan gulped and nodded, his olive skin paling. They all knew Ryan wasn’t kidding.
“Well,” Celine’s clear-glass voice cut through the room. Eden glared subconsc
iously at her mother as she narrowed her eyes on Ryan and Teagan. “I told you this is what comes with spoiling the little shit.” Celine wasn’t exactly a fan of Teagan either.
Eden barely listened as Celine and Ryan argued back and forth for a moment. She leaned against Stellan, feeling absolutely drained. To the outside, they probably looked like a handsome, wealthy family just having a regular old dispute. But no. Her parents weren’t arguing over Teagan’s wilfulness. They were arguing over the fact that Teagan wasn’t as careful as Ryan when he kidnapped, tortured, raped and killed young men and women. Ryan was a wealthy businessman, with a lot of contacts, and a powerful ability to compel people to believe anything. The disappearances never trailed back to him. But Teagan was getting lazy.
“I’ve told you to do something about it! He never listens to anybody!” Celine screamed, her face growing red with her anger, her pale blonde hair shining like a halo around her face. Eden felt Stellan squeeze her arm and she looked up at him gratefully. She seriously didn’t think she could make it without him. Or Noah, now, for that matter. Her brother grinned at her and she noticed his own pale blonde hair was brushed for once. He was wearing a nice shirt and pants too.
“Got a date?” She whispered.
He nodded. “But I can cancel.”
“What are you two whispering about?” Ryan snapped, shoving Teagan towards to the exit as he glared at his son and daughter, brushing his burnished gold hair back off his forehead. “Teagan not listening?” He guffawed at his wife. “What about her?!” He pointed at Eden now, his face a cruel mask. “It’s time for her goddamn Awakening Ceremony! It’s happening with or without your approval, Eden.” Now Ryan was walking towards her, aggression bristling in every movement.
Stellan shoved Eden behind him and faced his father. “Look, I’ll help Eden. Just give me a little time and I’ll have her ready for the Ceremony.”
Ryan stopped, his face still twisted with disapproval. “And how are you going to accomplish that?”
“I have an idea. I’ll let you know if it works.”
Seeming to relax at his son’s gall, Ryan nodded, threw one last glare at Eden and then shoved his wife and nephew out of the door.
Eden felt her whole body deflate with the tension. “Thanks Stel,” she whispered, dropping onto her bed.
“Sorry I didn’t get here sooner,” his voice sounded tight with anger. “He didn’t… do anything?”
“Nah.” She shook her head reassuringly. Then she looked up at him, remembering; confusion drawing her brows together. “Something weird did happen though.”
“What?” Stellan frowned.
“I totally threw Teagan across the room. Effortless. You see the wall.” She gestured to the cracks and peeling paint.
Stellan laughed and sat down beside her, picking up the discarded panda bear with no name. “Maybe it just means you’ll be kick-ass after you’ve fed and are one of us.”
Eden wasn’t so convinced. In all the stories, in all the times she’d met other people like them, some already full blown creatures of the Blessed and others still awaiting the awakening, she’d never heard of someone who hadn’t even fed on their first soul yet taking down one of the Blessed. Eden groaned and flopped back on her mattress. “I’m not ready, Stellan. I don’t care what you promised Ryan and Ceecee.”
Stellan snorted. “I told you not to let her hear you call her that.”
“Whatever.”
“Come on, Paradise.” He nudged her, his dopey smile making her grin back up at him. “Do this for me. Just let me try to change your mind, OK? Who knows… if you become one of the Blessed you’ll probably be strong enough to kick Teagan’s ass and change Ryan’s mind about the betrothal.”
Eden froze. “You think?”
Stellan’s grin widened. “Totally.”
She mused over this for a moment. That was tempting. Really tempting.
Stellan nudged her leg. “Well? Will you let me try?”
As his warm grey eyes washed over her face, she thought about how cool and kind her brother was to her. He always had been. And he didn’t kill people… he just did what his nature compelled him to. He wasn’t a bad guy right? And maybe if she did this, if she did the Awakening Ceremony, all her anxieties and worries and guilt would just… melt away.
“OK.”
***
That night someone opened the iron door, leaving it open a moment too long. The scream that wrenched through the mansion made Eden stiffen in her bed. She heard the horrified plea just as the iron door slammed shut, a frightening hush descending over the house. Try as she might, Eden couldn’t get the picture of the red-headed woman out of her head.
Worse. She wasn’t a little girl anymore. She had the power to do something. To help whatever poor soul was trapped down there at the mercy of Ryan and Teagan’s perversions.
But she was so scared.
Burrowing deeper into her duvet, Eden began to cry softly into her pillow to muffle the sound.
No matter what she promised Stellan, she didn’t know if she could do it.
I can’t do it.
Chapter Four
BFF
Eden shrugged off the prickling sensation on the back of her neck that told her she was being followed by one of her dad’s goons. She picked up her pace, letting her long hair fall in a dark curtain around her face. Not that that would do anything. Bozo behind her would just pick up his pace and… well… her hair was what pretty much gave her away since she was the only one in the family with hair as black as midnight.
“Hey, Winslow!”
Eden glanced up and smirked at Noah. He stood by one of the bench seats at the lake, ignoring the Saltonians who had decided to take a Saturday morning stroll too. A sense of peace flooded Eden’s chest even as the hunger snapped from somewhere deep inside her. She reached him with a wry smile on her face. “S’up dude.” She nudged him with her shoulder, and then gave a little jerk of her head. “Just a warning, we have a Code Goon a few yards behind us.”
Noah frowned and checked out of the goon with barely a flicker of his eyes. She had no idea how he did that. He was so cool and surreptitious. “Clocked him.” He nodded grimly and started walking in the opposite direction. Eden dug her hands into her jacket pockets and followed. “I thought you were going to talk to your dad about that?”
Eden sighed. “Ryan and I aren’t exactly on speaking terms these days.”
They were silent a while as they walked the path along the lake. Subconsciously they moved closer together when they recognised a couple of seniors from school. The group just stared at them with disgust, their eyes washing over Eden and Noah dressed in black, while they popped in their yellows and pinks and blues. There were no comments made, however. None ever were when Noah was actually in the vicinity. While Eden found Noah’s company soothing, others were a little wary of him. He had this dangerous teen vibe thing going. Eden had told him on more than one occasion that he should trade in his car for a motorcycle.
They passed the group and Eden remained silent. She felt Noah glance sharply at her. “Are you OK? You’ve been quiet all week.”
Eden sighed again. She and Noah didn’t really talk about their parents. Noah’s mom and dad were academics and socially inept, so Noah had never invited her over to his house because his parents wouldn’t like it. And Eden had never invited Noah over to her house because she didn’t want him to die. But sometimes all she ever wanted to do was tell him the truth… maybe just to have someone to talk to. And maybe just to see how far she could push their friendship; to test him. In the end, Eden would never tell him because Noah knowing the truth was dangerous, and she would never do anything to put him in jeopardy. Ryan would hurt him. She knew deep in her bones that if he got the chance, Ryan would do what he had to, to cut her off from all human emotion. He was aware of Noah. The fact that he allowed her to hang out with him told Eden he was hoping Noah was going to be the one to push Eden to her limits. Bastard. He was so twisted.
No wonder she was messed up. “If I ask you a question, will you promise not to judge?”
She saw the concern flicker in Noah’s eyes but he nodded quietly.
“Do you think… do you think it’s possible to hate your parents?”
He smirked. “Of course.”
“No, Noah.” Eden shook her head, swallowing back the bitter rage. “I mean… really hate them.”
She felt his eyes on her face, studying her intently and she flushed. Finally he sighed heavily. “I don’t know what to tell you. I guess, I don’t know.”
“But what about you? How do you feel about your parents?”
“Eden, look-”
“I know we have this unwritten rule that our parents are off limits but I’m not asking for anything, Noah, I just want to know… do you love them?” This time she looked him straight in the eye. For a moment he didn’t say anything and she got lost in the clearness of his gaze. The colour had always amazed her, not blue, or purple, but pale violet. But it wasn’t just the colour. There was so much going on behind them and yet there was no deceit there. No hate. No sociopathic blankness. And now, pushing out into the fore was a sadness. A sadness for her.
“I don’t talk about my parents much because there isn’t a lot to say. However, I also don’t talk about them much because I know you don’t have a great relationship with yours, and me and my mom and dad are really good friends. I love them, Eden. I’d die for them.”
For some reason that made her want to cry. Her throat started closing and she began blinking rapidly to stop the tears.
“Hey dude,” he teased, nudging her gently. “I don’t judge you for hating your parents right now. I know they’re pissing you off.”
Frustration gnawed at her and she wanted to scream at him that he didn’t know anything. She wanted to tell him the truth about who they were, what they wanted of her, what her father intended for her. She laughed humourlessly, bitterness ringing in the sound. Noah flinched a little, concern tightening his jaw. “You have no idea, Noah. No idea.”
Blood Will Tell (Warriors of Ankh #1) Page 3