"You saw her kiss me, but did you see me push her away?" he called.
She stopped walking and turned to him. "You pushed her away?"
He nodded.
Jane sighed. She wished she had seen that part. But the fact of the matter was simple — he had lied to her more than once.
Sebastian stepped towards her. "You're right. She's not my sister."
"Then what is she to you?"
"I guess you would call her an ex-girlfriend." He sighed. "It was a very long time ago."
Jane put her hand against a brick wall of a building to steady herself as she attempted to grasp the situation before her. "So your ex-girlfriend was living in your house for almost two weeks, and you're going to tell me you didn't touch her."
"That is exactly what I'm telling you," he said.
Jane's vision blurred with hot tears as she pushed away from the wall and walked towards her house once more. "I don't believe you."
"Jane, wait!" Sebastian said, catching up to her once again. He stopped her and put his hands around her waist once again. "It's complicated, Jane. I can't explain everything to you right now, but I'm asking you to trust me. Yes, I lied about her being my sister, but that is all. I'm not lying about anything else." He stared into her eyes. "You don't understand who she is and what she is capable of. You have to understand that I lied to protect you. I didn't want her to hurt you."
Jane released a shaky breath. "How could she have possibly hurt me more than you already have?" she asked before walking away from him.
CHAPTER 30
"EARTH TO JANE," Ashley said while waving her hand in front of Jane's face.
Jane blinked. "I'm sorry. What were you saying?"
"I was telling you about that guy from last night."
“What's his name again?" she asked.
"Gavin."
Jane attempted to appear interested, but she was so tired from the night before. Everything that had happened with Sebastian was still running through her mind, and it had kept her awake into the wee hours of the morning. She was thankful that she opened the store a little later on Saturdays and that it would be a short day.
Ashley sighed loudly. "Are you listening at all?"
Jane grimaced. "I'm sorry. I'm just so tired."
"Did you and Sebastian have a long night?" Ashley asked, smiling widely. "I saw you two leave the bar together."
"And that's where the night ended — on the sidewalk in front of the bar," Jane said.
"Oh," Ashley said with a disappointed tone. "Want to talk about it?"
"Not really." She frowned. "I just don't think I can trust him."
"Trust is a big thing in a relationship."
Jane nodded. "Tell me about it." She walked over to the café and poured herself a cup of coffee. "So are you going to see Gavin again?"
"I think so. He's really nice."
Jane smiled. Ashley was on cloud nine, and Jane was happy for her.
The bell above the door rang, and Matt walked in. He was in his police uniform. His eyes scanned the store until they rested upon Jane. His lips were in a tight line, and Jane instantly knew something was wrong.
Ashley must have sensed the vibe too, because she quickly mumbled, “I think I’ll go stock some shelves.”
Matt nodded at Ashley as he walked past her. “Jane,” he said.
“Matt, what’s wrong?”
“A friend of mine told me he saw you leave the bar last night with Sebastian.” He hesitated. “I think we need to talk.”
Jane grimaced. She hadn't accepted Matt's proposal or the ring, and yet he was constantly acting as if they were already engaged. She didn't want to lead Matt on, but she didn't know how to make it any clearer to him that she didn't love him without spelling it out and most likely hurting his feelings. “Sebastian was there at the bar, and he left at the same time that I did.”
Matt eyed her scrupulously. “And that’s it?”
“That’s it,” she said, confidently.
She could see him instantly relax. “I was worried about you. That’s all. I mean, after what I showed you…” his voice trailed off. “I just thought you would be more careful around him,” he added quickly.
Jane stared down at the floor. Matt had been right to warn her. She had a feeling Sebastian had more than a few skeletons in his closet, and not all of them were ex-girlfriends. “I am being careful,” she insisted.
“Good. I’m glad to hear that.” He glanced at his watch. “Hey, I got to get back to work.” He pulled her in for a quick hug. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye, Matt,” she said, watching him leave. Then she slowly sank down into one of the chairs. She didn't think it would be possible, but she felt even more emotionally exhausted.
“That looked intense,” Ashley said, sitting across from Jane. “Everything okay?”
Jane sighed. “Yeah. Matt is just being a little overprotective.” She folded her arms across her chest. “I feel so guilty. I mean, Matt has been there for me for the past couple of years. He helped me through a lot of things after Jack died. I don’t think I would have made it without him.” Matt had been there for her every step of the way, and she felt deep down like she owed him. But she also had her own happiness to consider.
“Do you love Matt?” Ashley asked, bluntly.
Jane was taken aback by the question. She didn’t think she had ever thought about the question when it came to Matt. “I do love him,” she responded, truthfully.
“But you’re not in love with him,” Ashley decided.
Jane shook her head. “No, I don’t think I am. It’s not that Matt isn’t a great guy. He is. It’s just that it’s hard for me to be close to him when he looks and reminds me so much of Jack.”
“That’s understandable.” Ashley reached across the table and patted Jane’s hand. “But one day you’ll have to make a choice. Either you’re going to marry Matt, or you’re going to let him move on with his life just as you will move on with yours.”
Ashley’s words stayed with Jane through the rest of the day. And as she closed her eyes that night to go to sleep, the words haunted her dreams.
CHAPTER 31
JANE AWOKE WITH a start in the middle of the night. Something had disturbed her sleep, but what had it been? She glanced at the clock. It was a little after two in the morning.
Creak.
The floorboards outside her bedroom door creaked. She sat straight up in bed and held her breath. The room was pitch black except for the blue illuminated numbers on the alarm clock. Perhaps the house was just settling, she told herself.
Creak.
Her heart hammered hard against her ribcage as her fingers clumsily reached for the phone on the nightstand. Before she could find the receiver, her bedroom door burst open.
She scrambled out of her bed and ran to the window facing Sebastian's house. She ripped open the curtains. His bedroom was dark. He was asleep. Hastily, she tried to open the window so that she could scream over to him, but a set of hands were pulling her away from the window. She was roughly tossed back onto the bed.
She stared up at the man, who was now illuminated from the moonlight shining in the window. He was tall and was wearing a black ski mask on his face. “What do you want?" she demanded.
The beam from the flashlight in his hand skimmed down her body. "Lovely," he said with a deep, gravely voice.
"If you want money, it's in my purse!" she exclaimed.
"I'm not here for money," he responded.
Jane felt an icy chill run up and down her spine that kept her frozen in place. Her only instinct was to call out for help and pray that someone would hear her cries. "Help! Help me!" she screamed.
"No one's gonna hear you," he hissed.
He grabbed one of her ankles and pulled her towards him. Jane screamed and kicked, and one of her kicks made contact with his ribs. He let out a whoosh of air and cursed, dropping his flashlight. "I'm going to make you pay for that, bitch," he said through
gritted teeth.
He pounced on top of her, pinning her to the mattress with all of his weight. Jane fought to breathe and raised her hands to fight him off. He grasped her wrists with one hand and held them above her head. With his free hand, his rough, calloused fingers brushed her cheek and continued down her throat and stopped at the lacy trim of her nightgown. "I'm gonna have fun with you," he whispered against her ear.
Jane whimpered as hot tears ran down her cheeks. "Please don't do this," she pleaded, her voice strangled. She closed her eyes tightly and focused her thoughts on Sebastian. He was her only hope. If only he could hear her. She screamed his name in her mind.
The man's hand fondled its way down over her body, and Jane squirmed and wriggled under him, trying to buck him off. Her efforts proved to be futile, and she quickly began to feel weak. A tingling sensation was starting in the base of her neck, but she refused to let the feeling take over her body. Not now! she thought. She tried to focus on staying alert.
The sound of her nightgown ripping filled the room. "Please! No!" she whimpered, sobbing.
Suddenly, the weight of the man on top of her was gone. He was suddenly sailing through the air, his body crashing into the armoire at the other side of the room.
Jane sat up quickly and reached for the small lamp on the nightstand. When she flicked the light on, it illuminated the room enough to see who her savior was. "Sebastian," she whispered.
His eyes were glowing bright blue as he stared down at the man. Sebastian picked him up with one hand, and Jane watched the man's legs dangling in the air. She stared at the sight in front of her and tried to comprehend it. Sebastian was effortlessly holding the man, who was at least two hundred pounds, at least two feet off the ground with a single hand.
"Who are you? Why are you here?" Sebastian demanded.
The man could only gurgle out a response. He began to gasp for air, and his legs kicked as he tried to get oxygen into his lungs. When he finally passed out, Sebastian let him fall to the ground with a loud thump.
Sebastian then approached Jane and asked, "Are you all right?"
Jane stared at him. His blue eyes were luminous and wild. His breathing was labored, and between his parted lips she saw something that made her heart skip a beat. Sebastian had fangs. A thought crossed her mind even though she found it hard to believe — he's not human.
She backed up from him suddenly, bumping into the nightstand. "I-I'm okay," she managed, her fear evident in her voice.
His brows creased, and he quickly turned away from her. "Call the police," he said.
Jane grabbed the phone. Her hands were shaking as she dialed 9-1-1. When the operator answered, Jane said, "I need the police at 114 Sycamore Street. A man broke into my house."
While she was on the phone, Sebastian glanced at her. He stared down the length of her body, and Jane realized her torn nightgown was barely covering her. Sebastian hastily gathered a sheet from the bed and began to wrap it around her carefully.
Jane stared up at him. His eyes were back to their normal icy blue, and his breathing was regular once again. She couldn’t figure out if she was more confused or scared at what she had just witnessed. By the time he finished wrapping the sheet around her, she was a ball of tension.
Sebastian slowly backed away. “Jane,” he started, but then a voice called for her at the bottom of the stairs, and she never got to hear what he was going to say.
A few seconds later, Matt appeared in the doorway. He was in his uniform and had his gun drawn. He glanced around the room, and his eyes rested on the man on the floor. "What happened?" he asked Jane, his voice full of alarm.
Jane ran across the room and threw herself into Matt’s arms. She couldn't speak. She could only cry.
CHAPTER 32
JANE SAT ON the back of the ambulance as an EMT meticulously checked her over. She had changed into a pair of yoga pants and a long-sleeved shirt and discarded the torn nightgown in the trash. She couldn't stop shivering, but she knew it wasn't from the cool night air.
She stared across the yard at Sebastian being interviewed by the same police officer who had finished taking her statement moments ago. The officer scribbled down notes as Sebastian talked.
Suddenly, as if knowing she was staring at him, Sebastian turned and gazed intently at her. He looked like a regular human on the outside, but something was different about him. His blue eyes had been glowing, and then there were his fangs. She shivered again at the thought of the fangs tearing into her flesh.
"Jane," Matt called, his voice snapping her back into reality. "I think you should go to the hospital to get checked out."
She shook her head. "No." She had had enough of hospitals for one lifetime. She looked Matt in the eye. "I'm fine."
He sighed, exasperated. "You know, when you say you're fine, I know you're not."
"I'm great," she corrected.
The corners of his mouth turned up as he tried not to laugh. But soon the feeling of laughter subsided as his brow puckered in dismay. He ran his knuckles gently over her cheek. "I was so worried about you. If anything would have happened to you —." He choked back the words.
"Everything is all right now," she breathed. "How did you get here so fast anyway?"
"Well, I was making a round on your block, and I saw that your door was wide open and your bedroom light was on. Then the call came over the radio as I was getting out of my car."
The EMT said, "Besides some scratches and bruises, ma'am, I can't find anything else wrong."
She felt lucky in the aspect that it could have been a lot worse. The ordeal had been brief but traumatizing. "Thank God Sebastian was there in time to stop him."
Matt nodded slowly. "Yeah. It was pretty convenient how he showed up just in the nick of time," he murmured.
Jane eyed him speculatively. "What are you trying to say?"
Matt brushed off the comment with a smile. "Nothing. I'm glad he was there too." He brought her hands up to his mouth and softly kissed the palm of each of her hands. "I wouldn't have forgiven myself if anything would have happened to you."
Jane gently pulled her hands from him. "I'm tired. I just want to go to bed." She glanced back over across the yard, but Sebastian was nowhere in sight. She looked around, but didn't catch another glimpse of him.
"Let's go inside." Matt put his arm around her for support as she stood, and he walked her to her house.
* * *
Sebastian calmly answered the police officer's questions. His mind wasn't focused on the questions, however. His mind was focused on Jane, who was less than twenty yards away. Feeling her eyes on him, he glanced over at her. She kept her gaze locked with his for only a matter of seconds before she looked away as Matt spoke to her.
Her thoughts were jumbled. She was confused and scared. He frowned. She had seen too much. She had witnessed him in his true form, and he was terrified of not knowing what she was going to do with the information. He didn't want to scare her away, but he feared it was too late for that.
The cop asked him a few more questions, and he answered them quickly while keeping part of his attention on Matt and Jane's conversation. She was not telling Matt or anyone, for that matter, anything about his secret.
"I think that's about it," the cop said. "I have your number. If we need any more information, we'll give you a call."
Sebastian nodded before turning to his house. Once inside, he let out a sigh of relief. He stared at his basement door. His hunger was almost unbearable, but it would have to wait. Every cop on duty was outside his door, and he had to be on his toes until they left.
He walked into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of wine. That would suffice…for the time being. He drank the vintage wine and savored the taste of each grape on his tongue. His superior senses of taste and smell gave him the advantage of experiencing every step of the wine's process right down to the earthy smell of the soil the grapevines had been planted in.
He walked to a window and pulled
back the drapes slightly. Jane was walking into her house. Matt had his arm wrapped around her, and Sebastian felt a pang of jealousy surge through him. There was something about Matt that sent his senses into overload, and he needed to figure out what it was that Matt was hiding.
He left the window and drank the last of the wine. He slowly unbuttoned his shirt and walked into the library. He inhaled deeply. The smell of vanilla filled his nostrils, and the scent reminded him of Jane. He opened a small drawer in the antique secretary desk and picked up a photograph. His fingers gently brushed over the girl in the photo. "Jane," he whispered.
Sebastian could distinctly remember the day he had taken the picture. It had been a cool autumn day, and she was bundled up in a coat and scarf under a cherry tree. They had spent the day in a quaint, old town in Maryland. They had strolled the cobblestone streets for hours and bought trinkets at various shops.
He stared down at the photo. Now that Jane knew what he was, she would probably keep her distance. He closed his eyes tightly. "I wish I had the strength to stay away from you. You're better off without me," he said, painfully. Carefully he placed the photo back into the desk and closed the drawer.
CHAPTER 33
JANE STARED OUT the window as the police cars and ambulances left. The only car left was Matt's police car. He lingered in the kitchen, pacing the floor.
Jane's eyes drifted to the house next door. A soft light was coming from the living room window. She wondered what Sebastian was doing. Emotions mingled and fluttered through her insides. He had just saved her life, and she hadn't even thanked him.
She thought about everything that had happened since she had met Sebastian, and everything led to one conclusion — Sebastian Alexander was a vampire.
Matt touched her shoulder, causing her to jump back from him. "Whoa," he said.
"Sorry," she apologized.
"You zoned out there for a minute. I was worried you were going to have another episode."
She shook her head. "I was just thinking."
Matt cleared his throat. "I want to stay until daylight, Jane. I just don't feel right leaving you here by yourself."
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