“I never said that. I was thinking that I should go on without you guys.” Once the sentence leaves my mouth the room explodes with objections, shockingly not only from Danika and Coy but also from Jared.
“Are you insane? Did you forget what happened in the park? Do you honestly believe you could face something like that on your own?”
Everyone in the room becomes silent and focuses their attention on Jared. “And why would you care so much?” I ask him, skeptical of his motives.
“Believe it or not I actually do care.”
“Why? Don’t want your head hacked off by Aldrick?” No matter how much he has helped us, I’m still convinced Aldrick is the motive behind his sudden appearance.
Jared shakes his head. “Believe me if Aldrick knew I was here, he would take my head.”
“Then why?” Sitting back in the chair, I cross my arms over my chest.
“You know there were Vampires taken too.”
“Yes. We tried talking to Aldrick about it but he offered no help.”
“Yeah, well, there are some of us who do care, and have loved ones who were taken.” I notice Jared is holding a bracelet in his hand. It appears to be a girl’s bracelet. It’s made from silver, no doubt to keep Lycans at bay. Even a small amount of silver hurts a Lycan. A single star charm hangs from the silver band.
The way he’s holding the bracelet gives him away. “Who is she?”
“My sister.” Jared walks over to the window, peering out into the city. “You must know a lot about how that feels.”
“Yes I do,” I say, thinking of Addie and what she could be going through.
“Then you understand why I’m not walking away from this.” He looks back over at me. Without saying a word, a silent understanding is made between the two of us.
“Okay. Then Jared and I will go, while you and Coy stay here with Ethan.” Once again the two of them start protesting against my plan. Neither one of them wanting to stay behind but knowing they have little option.
The biggest protest comes from Coy. He’s now standing in front of me, ignoring my protest of space. “You have lost your mind. If you think I’m going to let you venture off with some Vampire we know nothing about, to face some evil century’s old Witch alone, you’re absolutely crazy.”
“And what exactly are you going to do to stop me?” I stand up, our eyes meeting, each one of us unyielding. “You’re human. These dangers are a bigger threat to you than any of us. And are you going to leave Danika here to defend herself?”
“No I’m not. You’re going to stay here until we can all go together, or we get her and Ethan somewhere safe.” I knew this wasn’t going to be easy but I didn’t realize how much his caring would affect me. I want to reach out to him, snuggle up in his arms where I feel safe. But I can’t. Caring for him this way only complicates things.
I look over at Danika who is staring off at nothing. I’m sure she’s trying to figure out a plan but coming up empty handed like everyone else.
I look back at Coy, pleading with him to understand. “I have to do this. You have no part nor do you want to be a part of this world. I promise you I will return your brother safely to you. But right now, you need to stay with Danika and Ethan to make sure they’re safe.”
Then doing the unimaginable he grabs me in front of everyone. Pulling me up close to him, he looks me in the eye saying, “I’m already a part of it.”
I can feel Danika and Jared looking at us now. My heart starts beating fast with happiness yet hindered with panic. Coy leans down to kiss me but I jerk away.
“No, no, no.” I turn my back to him walking to the other side of the room. I don’t want to see his face. If there’s hurt, I know I will break. If I see relief, then I’ll break. My heart is beating so fast I feel like it’s going to explode through my chest.
This cannot be happening. Coy doesn’t want to be a part of this world. He has made that very clear several times. I knew drinking from him was a mistake. It’s misled him and has made him feel so sorry for me that he’s forgotten all his resolve to get out, to have a normal life.
“Dammit Racquel!” Coy starts towards me, continuing his protest but is cut off by an unexpected voice.
“Will you guys keep it down? I’m trying to recover here.”
Chapter Seventeen
Unbelievably, it’s only been a few hours since Ethan regained consciousness, and here we are sitting on the plane. But believe me when I say it wasn’t easy. Once Ethan woke up and not only found out about Cerelia but also saw Jared, all hell broke loose.
First there was the pissing contest between the two of them that had to be settled. Luckily there were no punches thrown. You know with Ethan being so down and all. It was mostly a bunch of name calling, accusations, and bad language thrown around. Once all that seemed to be settled between the two of them, another battle started.
Ethan slowly and from his appearance painfully got out of bed. Then the fight was on between him, Danika, and me. Coy and Jared just stood back and let me and Danika handle Ethan. But obviously that argument didn’t go anywhere except getting us on the move again.
Ethan was determined to get back in the game, unwilling to let his injuries be the reason behind our hold-up. Although he wouldn’t admit it, I knew he had heard all the arguing before he decided to let us know he was conscious. He knew the seriousness of the situation and even though he’s still in a lot of pain, he decided to bare his teeth and get back into it.
I glance over my shoulder at the private room. Although we couldn’t stop Ethan from coming with us, that didn’t keep Danika from being mama bear and forcing him to take it easy. She was now stationed outside the private room in the chair I had hoped to occupy, while Ethan rested in the back.
She was currently looking over a map of Canada, our current destination. We knew nothing about the Shape-shifters’ exact location but knew it was somewhere in the remote mountains of northern Canada.
I knew this was only a distraction to keep her seated instead of hovering over Ethan like she wanted. Looking at a map wasn’t going to do us any real good. There are hundreds and hundreds of empty wilderness miles to search through.
The rest of us are spaced out throughout the cabin. Jared took up the couch to the left of the plane. I am sitting in the front chair keeping my back to Coy, who is sitting behind me flipping through channels on the television.
I want so badly to reach behind me and snatch that remote away from him. The TV is stationed in front of me and I have to continuously watch as he keeps flipping channels and not settling on one thing to watch. I honestly start to believe that he is doing it just to get a reaction out of me.
Taking a deep breath, I try my best to ignore the images flickering in my face. I swivel my chair to face Jared. He has his left arm propped up on his left leg, his sisters’ bracelet dangling from his fingertips.
“What’s your sister’s name?”
“Sofi.”
“How old is she?” Jared looks over at me, bloody tears cloud his eyes but they do not fall.
“We were turned together eighty years ago.” I notice that Jared is now wearing a shirt that had been on Coy’s rack of new clothes.
“When was she taken?”
Jared turns in his seat, placing both legs on the floor as he rests his elbow on his knees, the bracelet clutched in his left hand. “A few months ago, she was in Indonesia running some errands for Aldrick.” He says Aldricks’ name with cold disgust. “He didn’t even tell me she was missing until a week ago. It’s amazing how little he cares for the people he’s supposed to be protecting.”
“Is he the one that turned you?” When a human is turned, they feel a sort of loyalty and care for the Vampire that turned them. It would be hard living a life where you felt obligated to someone who could care less about you.
Jared raises his head, “No.” Turning away from me, he stretches out on the couch so his back is to me. Obviously that’s my cue the conversation is ove
r.
I face back toward the television which is still be flipped from channel to channel. I could rip the TV off the wall, that would be one way to fix things. Instead, I dig through my bag and find the picture of me and Addie. I focus on the picture and think about happy times.
I start thinking about the day before I left, Addie and I were sitting outside of our house in Virginia, laughing about a woman who had just walked by. She was human and had just tried visiting our neighbor, old lady Blake. Old lady Blake is a Witch of course and a weird one at that.
The terrified human lady, who was a sales woman, was running as fast as she could down the block away from old lady Blake’s house. Addie and I started making jokes about what old lady Blake had said to the woman to cause her to run like that.
“Who’s that?”
Coy scares the bajesus out of me and I drop the picture. “Will you quit doing that?” I say as I reach over to pick the picture up.
“What?” I don’t look back but I know he has a smile on his face.
“You know what.”
He chuckles a little bit. “Sorry. So who’s that?”
“Addie.”
“You two look happy there.” He’s now standing up and leaning over my chair.
“We were. It’s one of the few times I can recall me and her having a good time.”
He’s quiet as he stands over me. I start hoping he’ll sit back down, content with the small talk. Apparently all the wishing and hoping in world isn’t in my favor.
Coy walks around my chair, squatting down in front of me. He leans forward, trying to make eye contact. I try my hardest to ignore him and focus in on the picture.
“Why do you do this?”
“What?” My voice is soft and raspy as I answer him.
“Block people out.” Coy’s trying to look up at me, tilting his head so it’s directly in my line of sight. I’m no longer able to see the picture.
“I don’t.”
“Yes you do, Racquel. You try keeping your distance from people and won’t let anyone get close to you. I’ve seen you arguing with Danika when she’s only trying to help. Now you’re trying to push me away. Why?”
“Because.” I can feel my throat closing up as my eyes start to water. I think about all those times as a child when I wanted friends and someone to care for me. All they ever did was make fun of me and say hurtful things.
“That’s not a good enough answer, Racquel.” Coy places his hand on mine. “Will you look at me?” I want to but I know if I do he will see the tears in my eyes.
“You don’t understand, okay?”
He’s rubbing his hand softly over mine, trying to soothe me. “Make me understand.”
I shake my head in refusal. I don’t want him to feel more pity for me than he already does. Instead of leaving me alone, he runs his hands up my arms. Coming up to cup my face in his hands and forcing me to look at him. As soon as I look at him, his brown eyes full of warmth, tears start spilling over and running down my face. Jeez, when did I become such a blubber baby?
“I’m here for you if you will just let me.”
I shut my eyes feeling another tear slip through. “It’s just too painful.” I open my eyes and look at him. “I’ve wanted people to like me. When I was a kid, I tried being friends with other kids. But they would always turn me away. My whole life has been nothing but ridicule. I’ve just found it easier to block people out. Yeah, it hurts too but not near as much.”
He runs his thumbs under my eyes, wiping away the traces of tears. His voice is soft as his eyes search mine. “Not everyone is like that, Racquel. We are all here because of you. I’m here for you, if you will just let me be.”
“You’re only saying this because of the other night.”
His brow furrows as he thinks back. “What do you mean?”
“When I bit you, you said you felt my sadness. I know you only kissed me because you felt sorry for me. You said it yourself. You want no part of this life. Well I’m a part of this life.” I throw my hands up for emphasis.
Coy runs his hands through my hair then brings them back cupping my face once more. He leans in close to me, “I’ll admit, I don’t want to be in this world but I do want you. That night in Paris was one of the best nights of my life. After that night I was so confused, I didn’t know what to think. Then the other night through the battle and then seeing you help Danika, I couldn’t shake the unease I had of something happening to you. When you bit me and I felt all your pain and fear, it just brought me that much closer to you but it had nothing to do with why I kissed you. I kissed you because I wanted to.” He pauses, running his thumbs over my cheeks, his eyes never leaving mine. “I kissed you because there was nothing in the world I wanted more. Just like right now. There’s nothing I want more than to kiss you again.”
I freeze, stunned at what I’m hearing and hoping with every part of my being that it’s true. Never have I let a stranger this close to me. Oh how bad I want this, someone to see me, someone to know me, someone who cares.
Coy’s touch is an electrical shock to my skin, sending chills all over me. He runs his hand through my hair once more, finally placing his hand on the back of my neck and pulling me closer, bringing our lips closer.
“You’re so beautiful Racquel and so amazing.” His lips brush mine softly as he speaks, sending a shock of pleasure and desire through me. “I promise you this. I will use every ounce of my energy making sure you know that.”
He pulls me in for a kiss, lightly at first then harder and more passionate. Just like that, all the shields I try keeping up, break. I still carry some doubt but right now I’m focused on the joy. I’ll let the doubt weigh me down later.
Coy pulls away and smiles. I blush, dunking my head so he can’t see.
“I love that.” He turns the corner of his mouth up in a sexy teasing smile.
“What?”
“How I can make you so nervous and shy. It’s cute. Normally you’re stern, stiff, and in control. When you get shy like that,” he shakes his head smiling, “totally cute and sexy.”
My blush deepens, I’m sure my face is glowing like Rudolph’s nose. Coy stands up, chuckling but keeps my hand in his. “Come on back here. You can tell me all about what’s going through that crazy head of yours.”
No matter how cute, fun, and caring Coy was, it would take a lot more than a kiss to get me to truly open up. I knew I could discuss what was going on with Cerelia. Maybe even what it felt like when I helped Danika heal Ethan.
But there was some stuff that I still couldn’t talk about, stuff that was for me and me only. Those memories and pains would only make him feel that much more sadness for me. His brother might have told him a few things about the night he found me, but there were plenty of other things that no one knew about.
“Okay.” I bend over and pick up my backpack. I go to put the photo in the front pocket when I notice a crumpled-up piece of paper in the bottom. I pull the piece of paper out, seeing again the strange formulas and symbols that I had forgotten about.
“What’s that?” Coy’s leaning over me again, looking at the paper in my hand. I had forgotten all about it. I’d found the paper before ever finding out about Addie and leaving to find her. I had intended on looking up some of the symbols and formulas scribbled all over the page. Once we left, the paper was long forgotten. Looking at it now, I wasn’t sure if it was important or not. Should I just toss it aside and forget about it? Should I keep it and look into it later? It didn’t seem all that important but there was a part of me that felt it was.
“I don’t know. I found it at my house before leaving to find Addie.” I hand the paper over to him. “What do you think it means?”
Coy takes the paper, looking it over with an amusing puzzled focus. His eyes are so intent and determined to recognize something on the paper. His mouth sets into a grim line and he rubs his fingers over his chin.
I fight the urge to laugh but a small smile still plays on my
lips. “So what do you think?”
“I don’t know. Some of these are familiar but it doesn’t make sense.” He walks back to his seat, still studying the piece of paper. I follow, grabbing my bag and zipping it up. I sit down beside him, leaning over so I can see the paper too.
Pointing to some of the symbols on the paper, Coy says, “These symbols right here are your basic chemical elements: hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen. These symbols over here are for acids, water, carbohydrates. These formulas down here, I’m not sure about.”
I look at him in amazement. “Where did you learn all that?”
“From books! Didn’t you learn basic chemistry elements in school?” Coy asks.
“I didn’t really pay attention in school. I dropped out my sophomore year.”
“How does that work? Is there a separate school for the Shadows or did you go to school with the humans?”
“There are schools devoted to the Shadows but we can go to human schools too. I went to a human school. We have all the same classes as the humans but there are some special classes devoted only to the Shadow students.”
Coy looks confused, “Didn’t the humans notice?”
“Not really. The principal of the school was a Shadow, so was the counselor. They, of course, were in charge of making schedules so there wasn’t any problem with keeping humans out of the Shadow classes.” I remember a few humans who had thrown a fit wanting to take the advanced mythology classes but they had always been full.
“Did the humans not notice you guys were different?”
“I think they did but they really didn’t know why. They especially stayed away from me.” Well everyone stayed away from me, even the teachers. There had been a big argument over what to do with me. Finally they decided to stick me in a class by myself with a Witch as my teacher. I guess they thought she would be the most likely one to get away if I went all crazy. “What about you? Did you have some type of schooling?”
Uniquely Unwelcome (The Shadow World) Page 21