Abandoned Darkness

by Kate Wendley

  Jade usually fell asleep as her cat sometime before sunrise, then always woke in alarm once her shift back to human was complete. Just like her, that’s when most people wanted to get back home to finally get some real sleep.

  The car ride was quiet and she couldn’t stop yawning while she wondered where Sebastian was. She hadn’t thought to look around for him in the parking lot before they left. She wished she would’ve.

  Her thoughts drifted back to that woman at the bar. Would she be walking around naked this morning in front of Sebastian? Or worse, would he be walking around naked in front of her? Had they shifted and run together last night? Was that why he didn’t answer Jade’s messages?

  She frowned and looked out the window, mad at herself, but also mad at him. If he was going to dump her, he should’ve done it to her face.

  Chapter 35

  Jade checked her phone once she finally slid out of bed. It was dark outside and she still didn’t have any messages from Sebastian. Maybe there was nothing to worry about, though. She’d assumed they were going to shift and run together last night, but she never actually talked to him about it. In fact, she was the one to tell him she always shifted alone, and she also told him she’d talk to him after full moon.

  She texted him that she was up and asked when he wanted to talk, then pulled some fresh clothes on, washed her face, and put her hair in a ponytail. She was starving, like usual after her shift, but felt surprisingly good.

  Turning into her cat went a lot smoother last night. It was only uncomfortable, not painful. That was awesome as far as she was concerned. She remembered feeling powerful and free, though still worried about the other animals. She wondered how Sebastian got when he was wolf and if she’d ever feel safe running with him.

  She checked her phone before she went down to the club. Still no answer. She frowned in worry. Was he ignoring her or was he just busy doing something for Anthony? She prayed it wasn’t too late to make things right with him, not now that she’d finally decided she was ready for more.

  Flyers taped to the walls on her way downstairs finally caught her eye after about the third one. Why did they need so many extra blood volunteers tonight? She caught a bit of conversation, too, about Anthony and Zach being out behind the buildings. Maybe Sebastian was with them. She self-consciously made her way outside, a patchy group of people beginning to fill in along the edge of the greenway.

  She looked around but didn’t see him anywhere. She did see Zach, though. “Hi Zach.”

  He turned and looked at her in surprise. “Well. Using my name now, are we? Does that mean what I think it means?” He smiled and looked eager for gossip.

  She sighed. “I don’t know. Do you know where Sebastian is? I haven’t heard from him since the night before last.”

  Zach’s smile disappeared. “He was still sleeping when I left. Didn’t even wake when I went in his room and checked on him. He must’ve had a rougher night than usual.”

  She looked away to hide her frustration at herself. If she’d just accepted him as hers she wouldn’t have to ask other people if they knew where her boyfriend was. She would’ve shifted and ran with him last night, and they’d probably be lying in bed next to each other right now, sleeping off the craziness of full moon.

  A chilly breeze blew by and she wrapped her arms around herself. “So what’s everyone looking at?”

  “I’m not sure. Anthony’s just sitting there. I don’t think anything’s wrong with him, but he won’t answer me. Oh, and the grass is like electric scissors when you step on it. Don’t go out there. Trust me.”

  She smirked and shook her head as Zach glared at the lawn. Anthony sat with his back to everyone in the middle of the greenway, a few shade trees sprinkled here and there. A light breeze played strangely with the ends of his long hair as he sat with his head bent forward and his arms relaxed by his sides.

  A few minutes went by as people came to gawk at him, hear the gossip about the electrified grass, and then finally leave as more kept taking their place. Jade didn’t stay very long. She was too antsy to find her man.

  “I’ll see you later, Zach.”

  She texted Tina as she headed inside and down to the club to get some girlfriend advice. She briefly wondered if she should sneak into Sebastian’s room and join him in bed instead, then immediately decided against it since she had no idea where they stood anymore.

  **

  Hunger ate at Sebastian until he reluctantly woke up. He yawned and didn’t want to open his eyes just yet, but his stomach was growling too loudly to let him sleep anymore.

  He squinted as he turned on his bedside lamp and looked at the clock. He couldn’t make sense of what time it was. Eight twelve. It was eight in the morning? He looked harder at the clock as he tried to focus his eyes. Something wasn’t right. What time did he leave the ranch today?

  He picked up his phone and saw some messages from Jade. There were a handful, and the oldest ones started right after he’d turned off his phone and left for the ranch last night. The latest one said she was home and up again. Huh. She must not need much sleep after her shift.

  He yawned and looked back at the time on his phone. Oh shit, it was eight at night. He sent a group text to Jade, Zach, Torin and Anthony to tell them he was up, frowning when he almost immediately got a text from Zach telling him to come outside… right now.

  ‘911?’

  ‘I don’t think so, but come out soon.’

  He wearily dragged his butt out of bed, threw some sweats on, then made himself a quick sandwich before heading upstairs.

  **

  Sebastian tried not to growl when he got to the end of the vampire hall. The club was noisy and full of people who were way too animated. He leadenly kept going, smiling when he saw Jade. She looked nervous to see him. Oh yeah, they needed to settle some things between them.

  But not right now. He put his arm out for her and she curled up to him in her slinky way she always did. Her cat made her every move graceful and sexy and it turned him on every time he was with her.

  “Hi.”

  His voice came out husky, a mixture of sleep and growing desire. “Hi.” He kissed her and she moved in all the right ways. He groaned at the feel of her in his arms, but also in frustration at where he thought this was heading between them.

  He pulled back from her addictively soft lips, though not out of her arms. “I’ve got to head outside. Zach needs something.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  “Ok.” He was too tired to think about if that was a good idea or not, so he kept his arm around her as they walked. He was actually surprised she was being so easy going.

  She innocently said, “You didn’t call me before you left for the ranch last night.”

  He studied her face, trying to figure out if she was mad. He was too foggy headed to tell.

  His voice sounded more gruff than he meant it to when he said, “I thought you liked to shift alone. You didn’t tell me you didn’t want to.”

  She didn’t say anything and he knew for sure something was wrong, but he was honestly too tired to care right now. She felt good in his arms and that’s all his brain could comprehend for the moment.

  They weaved their way through the mass of bodies in the club, then up the stairs while he could not for the life of him keep his hands off her. Her ass was just so squeezable, her body nice and warm against his. She gave him some intimate looks and coy smiles and he considered turning back around and dragging her to his place, but Zach needed him so he kept going.

  He cursed himself out in his head as they walked. He’d already laid things out for Jade, so if things didn’t change in a big way between them, he couldn’t keep being close with her like this. It would feel too much like his relationship with Gina if he did that… a hate filled, codependent sexual mess that wasn’t satisfying for either of them in the end. He couldn’t be that guy with Jade. Not with anyone ever again.

  Jade felt so good in his arms, though, an
d she was a nice girl, not a drugged up mess like Gina had been. But was it even fair to ask a nice girl to be in his fucked up life?

  He sighed and pulled Jade closer as they pushed through the crowd outside, which ended up being a lot bigger than he’d expected, even for the night after full moon. People hung out here a lot on those nights, but it wasn’t usually this crazy.

  He stopped beside Zach and looked curiously at Anthony sitting in the middle of the lawn. “Hey, what’s up?”

  Zach’s eyes went wide. “Dude! Torin says you were shot last night!”

  Jade tensed in his arms.

  “What? Are you sure?”

  Zach looked him over. “I don’t know, but you’ve been sleeping like the dead for hours.”

  He frowned in confusion. Jade stood stiff in his arms, and he felt like he was in a weird dream as he stepped away from her and looked down at himself.

  Now that he thought about it, his left hip felt a little sensitive, so he pulled his shirt up and the edge of his sweat pants down… then kept pulling them down to try to find the edges of the huge spot of pink, shiny skin he was now sporting.

  Zach snapped, “Shit! That’s all new skin, man. You were definitely shot.”

  Sebastian locked eyes with Jade, his mind a mess of what ifs and what was really important between them. She looked mortified, then woodenly tugged his shirt down and his pants up before wrapping herself around him and angrily purring. It was the cutest, strangest thing she’d ever done.

  He held her tight and kissed the top of her head. He wanted more than anything for everything to be ok between them, but he’d been kidding himself thinking this could last with her. His life was too dangerous, and even if it wasn’t, he wasn’t the kind of man she’d always wanted in her life and he knew it. He wasn’t the kind of man any nice woman wanted.

  He turned his attention back to Zach. “So what’s Anthony doing out there?”

  Zach smirked as he eyed Jade wrapped up in his arms. Sebastian wished things were actually as good between them as Zach seemed to think they were.

  “Don’t know. He won’t answer me, and he’s doing something weird to the grass. Can’t step on it unless you want to get electrocuted. With scissors.”

  “Hmm?”

  Torin mumbled, “Don’t step on the grass. Seriously feels like you’re frying from the inside out.”

  Sebastian turned his focus on Anthony, opening up his senses to see what he felt as he tried to tune out the crowd around him. It took more effort than it should have to stay focused, and it didn’t help to have Jade pressed up against his body, but he wasn’t ready to let her go just yet.

  He dredged up as much focus as he could and reached out through their blood connection. Anthony’s energy felt cool and calm like it usually did, but it also felt distant, like he was zoning out.

  The ground he was sitting on was a different thing entirely. There was a strange energy in it and Sebastian had the weirdest feeling as he focused on it. It was almost like Anthony was sitting on top of a… world… of energies and… people?

  He couldn’t explain it, and trying to interpret what he felt seemed like he wasn’t quite finding the right words. He quit trying to make sense of it in his head and watched Anthony, instead. He waited for him to do something while he held Jade in his arms and tried to absorb what was going on. Too many people were talking too excitedly about what they thought happened last night, and all he could clearly understand was that he’d been shot and something was weird with Anthony.

  And that he and Jade needed to talk. She was confusing him with her purring and worry, and the fact that they still hadn’t talked about the other night. He felt jealousy from her, too, and he wasn’t sure why.

  He ran his hand through his hair and tiredly mumbled, “I need coffee.”

  Jade perked up beside him. “I’ll get you some.”

  He felt weary all the way to his bones. “I didn’t mean for you−”

  “Nonsense. You were shot for crying out loud. I can get you some coffee.” She was paying him a lot of attention tonight and it made him wish he was the kind of man who could give her everything she wanted. At least she wasn’t avoiding him, but he still knew this would be their last night together. He tried to ignore that and stayed focused on how things felt right now, because right now felt good.

  He didn’t want to let her go, but she seemed so eager to please him, so he kissed her nose and said, “Ok. Thanks.”

  She gave him an intimate look, then pulled away. “Zach? Torin? Coffee?”

  Zach immediately raised his hand high in the air and it made her laugh.

  Torin said, “Me too.”

  **

  Jade was horrified Sebastian had been shot. He could’ve been killed last night. She would’ve been devastated if she’d waited for things to be just right between them, only for him to be shot and killed before she could let him know how much she wanted him. How much she needed him. It made her realize life was too short to keep waiting for the perfect time for things to happen. She just hoped she hadn’t totally screwed things up between them.

  She stewed thinking about other women seeing his completely shameless flash of skin a few minutes ago. He belonged to her… she hoped. But she’d seen the looks on some of their faces. They liked what they saw. She’d seen the sparks in their eyes…

  She needed to stop being such a scaredy cat and grab life by the ears… or the tail… or wherever she was supposed to grab it. She was going to lose a really great guy, a really great scary guy, if she didn’t quit being so afraid of life and just live a little.

  But things weren’t that easy. She’d have to drink his blood…

  She steeled her nerves and decided to not think about it. Right now she needed to get her man some coffee. She’d let him down enough, she could at least do something nice for him after he’d been shot.

  She blew a breath out as she assertively made her way through the tired and cranky crowd in the club, and then the restaurant, and people didn’t like it very much that she was cutting in front of them. She saw Oskar, the coyote who managed alongside Sebastian, and tried to get his attention. She called out his name and had to grab his arm before he walked away since he obviously didn’t hear her. He turned on her and she almost yipped in alarm. “Um, hi. Oskar?”

  He impatiently eyed her.

  “Sorry. I’m Sebastian’s girlfriend and I was wondering if I could get a cup of coffee for him, Zach, Torin and myself.”

  She almost wilted under his intense scrutiny before he finally smiled. “Sure, if you tell me if the rumor’s true that he was shot.”

  She was always surprised at how fast gossip traveled around here. “Totally true, and you can ask any of the women outside about all the fresh skin they just saw on my boyfriend’s hip, behind, and all the other parts he shouldn’t be flashing in a crowd.”

  He laughed as she frowned in irritation.

  “I’ll be sure to ask.”

  She quickly followed him while he got everything together with practiced efficiency. After handing her the tray full of hot coffees, he quickly tossed some sugar packets and creamers in a bag. “He likes three sugars and two creams. Not sure about the other guys. Oh, wait here. If I know Sebastian after one of his shifts, and I unfortunately do, he’s still hungry even if he’s eaten tonight. Let me get you some food for him.”

  She waited with the coffee while Oskar took off into the kitchen. A few minutes went by and she almost wondered if he’d forgotten about her, but then he came back out with a paper bag in his hands. He stuffed some napkins in as he said, “Elsa, come here. I need you to bring this outside with Jade real quick.”

  Jade watched the pretty waitress with the crazy, curly hair hop over to them while Oskar continued, “His usual after shift meal. Two double cheeseburgers and two fries. If he wants anything else, let me know.”

  “Thanks.”

  He winked at her and handed the food to Elsa, then immediately stepped away to get back t
o work.

  Jade and Elsa made their way back through the crowd in the restaurant and club, then through the crowd outside, though some of the women weren’t all that nice about letting them back in. Elsa rolled her eyes and shoved her way through, Jade less confidently following in her wake.

  Sebastian looked haggard when they finally got back to him. He grabbed for a coffee as soon as it was within reaching distance, and she held up one of the bags. “Sugar and creamer.” He smiled in satisfaction as he rummaged through it for his fix, then downed his drink in no time.

  “Thanks beautiful.”

  She smiled and playfully said, “Wait, there’s more.” She let Zach and Torin take their coffees, and she took her own out of the tray, then traded Elsa for the bag in her hands. “Two double cheeseburgers and two fries.”

  He rambled out, “Oh my God I love you,” as he hungrily reached for the food.

  She startled and shot back, “I love you, too.”

  He had a playful challenge in his eyes as he blindly reached into the bag and pulled out some fries, wasting no time shoving them in his mouth. His smile grew the longer they watched each other, but the heart stopping moment ended when there was a commotion in the crowd. They both turned to look.

  Men and women started very purposefully making their way towards the grassy lawn, and Jade was surprised to realize she could tell they were all vampire. She’d never been able to differentiate them so easily before, though most of them did look like they weren’t quite human.

  They made their way through the growing group of people, and every one of them came to stand at the edge of the grass to stare at Anthony’s back.

  Zach said, “Uh, the grass is a little electrified, ladies and gentleman. I’d be careful of it if I were you.”