I winced. “I’m sorry,” I said quietly. I knew from experience how hard it was to watch someone you love fight for his life against a horrible illness.
I glanced at Leo sidelong, still afraid to fully look at him. That haunted look was back again. I chose my next words carefully. “I thought you looked paler and thinner when I first saw you back at the prison.”
Leo shook his head, laughing once, dry and harsh. “My father is also missing.”
I sat up straighter. “What?”
“There was an explosion at the lab,” Leo said. His father was one of the scientists who developed Scarlet Steel. He was one of the most brilliant men I knew. “I’m not entirely sure what they were working on. Whatever it was had super-high security clearance on it, and my father had been sworn to secrecy.” A bitter smile spread over his tightly pressed lips. “I guess whatever it was will remain a secret sure enough now. Everything was completely incinerated. They never found his body.”
“Oh, Leo,” I said, scooting closer to him. I reached for his hand and squeezed it. “I’m so sorry.”
Leo didn’t have any other family. His mother had walked out when he was little, never to be heard from again, and his uncle was his father’s only sibling. His uncle also happened to be divorced and had no contact with his ex-wife or kid, since she made it clear she wanted nothing more to do with him. I didn’t know the details, but it had something to do with his uncle’s family resenting him for his greed and insatiable ambition for obtaining more power. Though I’d never said it to Leo, I thought that might be part of the reason why his uncle doted on him so much. He was the default family, a replacement for the son he had lost.
Leo stared out in the distance, his expression blank, like all the life had been sucked out of him. It broke my heart to see him like that.
Something swayed in the corner of my vision. An old tire swing was swaying gently in the breeze.
I looked at Leo hopefully, smiling. “Remember when we used to come out here and jump in the lake from that thing?”
Leo’s mouth twitched with the hint of a smile. His eyes seemed to light up some, which made me feel hopeful. “How could I forget? It took me a good thirty minutes to persuade you to try it because you were so scared.” He glanced at me wryly. “If I’d known taunting you was what it would take to get you to try it, then I would have called you a scaredy-cat sooner.”
I shoved him playfully with my shoulder. “Hey, that thing didn’t look like it could hold a bird up, let alone a little girl.”
“It was safe enough,” he said, giving me an indignant look.
“So safe that you broke your arm in three places when the rope snapped in half?”
“We’ve used stronger rope since then.”
I snorted. “I bet.”
He sighed. “I miss those days, when we were kids.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“They were some of the best days of my life,” he added softly.
The air suddenly felt incredibly hot. I tried to pull away, but he held onto my hand, keeping me close.
He leaned against me, making me tense. “I’ve thought about you every day since you left,” he whispered.
That sent the heat hurtling all the way to my toes. I prayed he couldn’t hear how hard my heart was beating. “I’ve missed you too, Leo,” I whispered back.
Gradually, I found my shoulders relaxing, and I leaned back into him.
He turned his head slightly, his lips only a breath away from mine. His eyes searched my own, filling my chest with warmth. “I need you, Sloane,” he breathed, leaning closer. “I can’t get through this without you.”
My traitorous eyes dropped to his lips. They parted as the tip of his nose brushed my cheek.
I couldn’t think straight. And I don’t know why, but my eyes fluttered closed. “Leo,” I breathed, waiting for his mouth to meet mine.
A soft gasp came from behind us. I startled, leaning back from Leo and turning to find Arika standing a few feet away.
Her face looked murderous, and her hands were clenched tightly at her sides.
“What?” Leo asked, a question in his eyes. “What is it?”
Confusion swept over me until I realized he hadn’t heard her; only I had with my vampire hearing.
The sweet smell of Arika’s perfume floated down to me, intermingled with the bitterness of her anger.
I glanced over my shoulder. Arika was gone.
A dove began cooing in the distance, and I turned back to find the sky was beginning to lighten. Almost instantly, my skin began to itch, warning me the sun was not far behind.
I cleared my throat, rising. “It’s nothing, probably my imagination.” I gave him an awkward smile, hugging myself against the sudden chill. “I’ll, er, see you around.”
Leo looked disappointed but didn’t try to stop me as I walked around the side of the swing, back toward the house. He had been there when I first discovered what it felt like to be caught in dawn’s light. To say it was unpleasant would be putting it lightly.
With brisk steps, I bounded up the stairs, crossed the porch, and entered the house, feeling Leo’s gaze burning at my back.
CHAPTER 11
The moment I got back inside, I went straight to my room. My heart was racing a mile a minute, and I could still feel Leo’s breath on my lips.
As I leaned against the door, I reached up to touch my mouth.
What the hell happened? Had I wanted Leo to kiss me? I had never been one of those girls who messed around with more than one guy at once. It just seemed too slutty and inconsiderate and, well, not me.
Guess this means he’s not mad at me, I thought wryly.
With a groan, I walked across the room, meaning to make for the bed but finding myself going toward the window instead. Brushing back the white lace curtains, I peered outside.
Leo was still sitting on the swing, but he wasn’t alone. Arika was standing beside him, gesturing to the house every now and then as she spoke. I couldn’t quite see her face; the windows looked like they hadn’t seen water or soap in a long time.
Her voice wasn’t loud enough to carry to the house, though believe me, I tried to hear what she was saying. Part of me already knew. “She’s dangerous, Leo.” “You need to stay away from her, Leo.” “I’m jealous you look at her that way, Leo.”
I don’t know what she said, but Leo suddenly shot up, holding both hands up in front of him as if to calm her down.
Arika ran a hand through her hair and placed her hands on her hips, cocking her head sideways at him.
He placed an arm around her shoulder, squeezing her to him in a friendly hug while she looked away.
My chest constricted, and I blinked away the twinge of jealousy. I don’t know why seeing him with her like that bothered me so much. Leo and I had always had a lot of friends of the opposite sex. It never got to me before.
So why did my stomach lurch while I watched them walk away and disappear from view?
Scowling, I let the curtains fall back into place before pulling the shade down and flopping onto the bed. I lay on my back, throwing a hand up over my eyes to block out the growing light from outside.
Please, please let me just fall asleep, and forget about this mess for a few blissful hours.
I cleared my mind and focused on my breathing, thinking of lying in a field while the sun warmed my skin. It was a calming technique my late friend Angel had taught me. It was hard at first to push away every stray thought that came in my head, but eventually I fell asleep.
And if I knew what I’d find in my perfect dream world, I would have tried to fall asleep a lot sooner.
***
Grass blades tickled my nose, and I sneezed as I bolted upright. I blinked a few times, and an explosion of color slowly came into focus.
A sky so blue and bright that it hurt my eyes stretched out above me while a glowing yellow orb I knew to be the sun shone directly overhead. I squinted, holding up my arm to shield my visio
n. A field of the greenest grass I had ever seen billowed out beside me, seeming to go on forever. Big red poppies, my favorite flower, fluttered in the light breeze, smelling of sunshine, the ocean, and –
My breath caught.
Cinnamon and cloves.
I stood up quickly, my white sundress rippling around my bare calves. My hair whipped about my shoulders as I glanced around.
“Aden?” I called.
I held my breath, straining to hear his voice. My shoulders slumped. I was alone.
Soft fingers grazed my shoulder, running down the length of my arm from behind me. “I’m right here,” a musical voice whispered in my ear.
Gasping, I whirled around, my eyes widening so big they hurt.
Aden gave me a lazy smile, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets. A white button-down shirt hung partially open at the neck, revealing the curve of his collarbones and lightly muscled chest. Eyes so blue they matched the sky stared back at me as he cocked his head sideways, blinking every time his pale blond bangs blew into his eyes.
I stared at him, long and hard, my gaze soaking up every inch of him. Though his skin was still incredibly pale, it had a rosy hue to it. He looked healthy.
His brows rose in amusement. “Now here’s a surprise. Outspoken Sloane McAllister, struck speechless. That only happened once before, when I stole a kiss in an alley not too long ago…”
My cheeks flushed and I blinked, snapping out of my stupor. “This is just a dream. You’re not really here.”
Aden shrugged, eyes sparkling. “Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t.”
I looked at him oddly. “What do you mean?”
“I’m saying it’s not unheard of for a creator and his child to find their minds linked from time to time, especially during times of great distress.”
“You mean your consciousness and mine are really here? In my, er, head?”
The corner of his mouth lifted in the faintest of smiles. “Something like that.”
I wanted to hug him, to know he was real and whole and not dying. But something held me in place. I couldn’t move. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?” I asked, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear only to have the wind jerk it free a few seconds later.
“And freak you out any more than you already were? Please, Sloane. I’m a little arrogant, maybe even a little cruel at times, but I’m not sadistic.”
I’d seen him fight before, had watched the predatory glee on his face as he ripped into his opponents’ flesh. I shivered, despite the spring warmth hanging in the air.
Something occurred to me. I looked him in the eyes, stepping closer. “Why did you tell me Orion was dead?” I demanded, my throat tight.
A flash of regret went through Aden’s gaze, and he licked his lips before answering. “Because he was, in the metaphorical sense of the word.”
It was my turn to raise a brow. “Kind of like Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars?”
He snorted. “Nothing so mystical as that, young Padawan.”
I lightly punched his chest and his grin widened. Then his gaze turned serious once more. “I meant to tell you. I really did.” Pause. “But as I got to know you, as I grew to… care for you, I couldn’t bring myself to rip your heart out like that. You had already been through so much.”
“And lying to me was better?”
He gently gripped my shoulders. “I did it to protect you. I know now that maybe it would have been better if I’d just told you the truth and not let you find out the way you did.” He winced. “Hindsight is always clearer than foresight, or so they say,” he added dryly.
I looked away, feeling a little guilty for making him feel bad. The whole thing about my brother seemed trivial considering the current circumstances. “It’s fine. It happened. I’ll get over it.”
Aden was silent and I could feel him studying me. Just as I opened my mouth to demand to know what he was thinking about, he said, “Even in your dreams you try to put on a strong face. You don’t have to here, you know.”
That almost broke me. I felt on the verge of cracking as it was, in need of letting it all out somehow, but that only felt like a waste of time. And there was too much at stake to get bogged down by emotions. “I thought you said this wasn’t a dream?” I asked before I could cry.
He smiled softly, reaching out to catch a strand of my hair. I shivered as his fingers trailed across my cheek as he tucked the strand behind my ear. His hand lingered there, his thumb gently caressing my cheekbone. “I know what I said, but you have to wonder. I’ve never created any ‘children,’ so I don’t know exactly how this works. However…” He leaned in, tilting his head slightly as if to kiss me. “If it is a dream, I hope I never wake up.”
I held my breath, my eyes locked on his lips. Unlike when I was with Leo, my emotions weren’t turbulent with confusion. I was calmed by an inner peace that only Aden could bring. I searched his eyes, finally reaching up to touch his face. It was warm and smooth, as silky as I remembered it being.
I never want to leave either.
“How are you feeling?” I asked instead, too chicken to spit out what I had been thinking.
He smiled. “Don’t worry about me. It’s you I’m worried about.”
My lips twisted up into a devilish grin. “Aden, it’s me. I even put on my big girl shoes before I left.”
He chuckled softly, that light I had grown so fond of returning to his eyes. “You’re so beautiful,” he said.
I tensed at the hint of sadness on his words. “Aden?”
“Yes?” he whispered, leaning in, his lips parting as they prepared to enclose mine.
“I…”
I was wondering if you had lied to me earlier about being okay so I wouldn’t worry?
I couldn’t finish the sentence. I think I forgot how to breathe, which was weird because you’d think you wouldn’t need to in a dream or whatever this was.
But this wasn’t a dream. It was real. It was me and the man who had claimed my heart, surrounded by a perfect illusion.
I almost forgot it could be shattered until Aden’s lips were about to touch mine and the dream fell apart as I was yanked back into my body.
My mind was super groggy, like I’d been pulled out of mega-REM sleep, but I vaguely recalled hearing a door creak open. That was what woke me up.
Instantly, adrenaline electrified my blood, pumping it harder through my veins and waking me up faster.
The room was nearly dark again, which meant it must be dusk. I started to sit up but caught sight of a hand reaching beneath my pillow. Freezing, I followed the hand all the way up an arm, and my eyes landed on a very tense Arika.
Neither one of us moved. We stared at each other for what felt like an eternity.
“What are you doing?” I finally asked.
That same haughty look I’d seen on her back at the prison returned. “What does it look like, vampire? I’m looking for something.”
My eyes narrowed. “For what?”
“Something that doesn’t belong to you,” she said, her words chilling the air. “I’m looking for Leo’s Scarlet Dagger.”
I blinked. “I don’t have it.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
I rolled my eyes. I so didn’t need this drama in my life right now, on top of everything else. “Arika, go away. I said I don’t have it, or I’d gladly give it to you.”
I sat up, gently shoving her out of the way so I could swing my legs over the side of the bed. I winced. My head was pounding.
Arika immediately drew her sai the moment I touched her. She crouched slightly, the sai at her sides, with the points running alongside her forearms. They looked harmless enough, but I knew she could whip them out and run me through before I’d realized what had happened.
“Where is it then?” Arika demanded.
“Ugh.” I rubbed my temples. “Please don’t yell. I’m right here.”
“Answer my question.”
I raised a brow. Everything was still ki
nd of blurry. “It’s back in the Red Sector.”
“You’re lying.”
I dropped my hands, exasperated. “Why would I have a reason to lie about that? I said I’d give it to you if I had it.” And it was true, bad as it made me feel to admit it. Though I knew I’d technically stolen the dagger from Leo, it was the only “present” Aden had ever given to me. He had confiscated it when I first stepped foot on base, and had sweetly given it back to me as a Christmas present. Part of me wished I’d been able to retrieve it before Orion’s men took me hostage. I assumed it was still sitting over at Aden’s apartment, right where I’d left it when I was abducted. My fingers grazed my belt, where I would have tucked it. It would have served as a great reminder of why I was here, of what my purpose was.
The thought of Aden conjured feelings of ill ease, so I decided to change the subject. “Why were you spying on us earlier?” I didn’t say it accusingly; I was just curious, and way too tired to feel much of anything else except irritable.
Arika blinked, caught off guard. “I wasn’t.”
I snorted. “Yeah, okay.”
“I wasn’t,” she said, a little defensively. “I was coming to find Leo.”
Leo is my nickname for him. His full name was Leonardo, though I’d been calling him Leo ever since he’d kept some kids from beating me up in the third grade. I knew it was childish, but I couldn’t help but feel like she was trespassing on our friendship by having the privilege of calling him by his nickname.
Naturally, I asked the one question I knew I had no business asking. “Why?”
Arika pursed her lips. “I don’t have to explain myself to you, especially when it doesn’t concern you.”
I almost grinned. If she thought that was going to stop me, then she obviously didn’t know anything about me.
Arika saved me the trouble of prying. Mischief sparkled in her eyes. “But since you asked, I suppose I should just spell it out for you.” She took a deep breath.
“Leo is my boyfriend.”
CHAPTER 12
I blinked. “What?”
“You heard me.” Arika tilted her chin up, her cool eyes narrowing. “Guess he decided a bloodsucking monster wasn’t his thing.”
Dark Horizons (The Red Sector Chronicles) Page 12