Starla’s “muscle” was a mixed too, albeit it, an undead one. There was no thumping heart to be heard in his barrel-sized chest. But he had to be only partially vampiric, if he’d been assigned to protect her during daylight hours.
Teren popped up from where he’d been tossed aside and zipped back to the man. I speedily moved to block him at the last moment, holding him back from leaping on the vampire. It took quite a bit of effort on my part, since Teren was a little revved up. Hot Ben came over and helped me, holding back Teren’s other arm. He eventually calmed down as Starla sighed and walked around her protection, thumping his chest with her hand.
“Down, boy,” she muttered. Coming up to Teren, she cocked her head and shrugged her shoulders. “Sorry, he doesn’t like me being touched.” Her turquoise eyes flicked to me, then back to Teren. “You can understand?”
Teren shot the man a hard look and then focused again on Starla. Ashley came up beside me and clutched my arm. I clutched hers back, both glad she was here, and wishing she was far away. His voice irritated, but a forced patience in it, Teren bit out, “I was just going to ask, if you can help us?” His voice and face softened as he looked over at me and then back to Starla. “Can you help her?”
Starla looked between the two of us as her bodyguard behind her crossed his arms over his chest. She sighed and shook her head. “Not me, but you should speak with Father. He sent me here, curious what you wanted with us. But seeing what you’ve done,” she shook her perfect head of hair disdainfully, “he will definitely be interested in your…situation.”
Teren nodded eagerly, the thought of maybe getting some answers, outweighing his irritation at being thrown across the room. As Starla chomped on her gum and indicated the car with her head, I looked over Teren’s body. He seemed fine, but that had looked like it had hurt. “You alright?” I asked, as Starla got back in her bimmer.
He eyed the big man, zipping back to his black car on the other side of the lot. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He brought his eyes back to mine; they sparkled with hope. “I’m great, Emma.”
Over Teren’s shoulder, I watched Hot Ben causally put his stake back in his pocket. I had the feeling he was always armed with one now. Twisting, I watched my sister eyeing where the big vampire had gone. She was fine with Teren, and fine with the tiny, unassuming blonde vampire, but that big guy had freaked her out. I could smell the fear on her.
As Ben moved to walk to his car, presumably to follow us, I blurred over to him, stopping him. He paused and blinked at me suddenly standing in front of him. I rarely moved blindingly fast in front of him. I was just glad I hadn’t tripped along the way. Putting my hands on his chest, I searched his blue eyes. “Teren and I can handle this.” He immediately began shaking his head and objecting. I shook mine more forcefully and dug my fingers into his skin. “No, please…take Ashley home.”
I said that quietly, and glanced over his shoulder at my brave, scarred sister. She was determined to see this through with me, no matter how much the whole thing terrified her. Ben looked over at her too, his body slumping as he did. Ben had always been very gracious around my sister, never looking down on her deformity; never treating her any differently than he did any other friend. His eyes took in her slight frame, shaking slightly as she stood with her hands clutching her elbows, locking her arms around her body. Her eyes flicked over to mine then, and she smiled slightly - it was a forced one.
Hot Ben glanced over at Teren, who nodded, having heard that entire conversation, and then turned back to me. “Alright, Em.” Surprisingly, his arms came around my girth to wrap me in a swift hug. In my ear he whispered, “Be careful…both of you.”
We stepped apart and I nodded at him, tears in my eyes again. He stepped back from me and nodded, his chiseled face determined. I had the feeling he would take his assignment with ferocious seriousness, protecting Ashley from every bad thing in the city, maybe even staying by her side all night, just in case. For the millionth time, I could have kissed Hot Ben.
Teren held out his hand for me as I heard Starla sigh in exasperation, and mutter that we were all worse than her pampered, Princess of a sister. Ignoring her, I took Teren’s hand. His cool fingers giving me strength, I walked up to the car. Ashley walked up as well, as she noted that it was time to go again. I gently put my hand on her shoulder as she moved to open the door.
“No, Ash. Not this time.”
She sputtered and shook her head at me and I dropped Teren’s hand to grab her shoulders. “I love you, Ashley, and I know you love me. You don’t need to do this to prove it to me.” She shook her head and started to say she wasn’t, when I interrupted her. “I know, and if I were in your shoes, you’d have to pry me away.” I pulled back, my fingers going to her wet cheeks. I stroked the roughness of her scars, ignoring the odd feeling skin.
“This is something Teren and I need to do together, alone.” I leaned in close, resting my head on hers. “I love you, but I can’t have you there with me. I need to know you’re safe…” My voice trailed away as emotion cut it off. I felt Teren’s hand come up to my shoulder and I suddenly had a greater respect for him always wanting to keep me away, to keep me safe. Having someone you love in danger was harder than having yourself in danger.
Ashley started to cry in earnest, but eventually nodded. I pulled away from her, wiping my own cheeks. Telling her I loved her, I kissed her forehead. As Teren and I got into the car, I watched Hot Ben come up to her and put his arms around her comfortingly. She twisted and held him tight. He stroked her back and watched us through the window, his jaw clenched as he nodded at Teren again.
Starla started the car and snorted as she pulled away. “God,” she muttered. “Overdramatic lot, aren’t you? You’d think I was driving the two of you to certain death.” She started to laugh as she pulled out into the street and Teren and I gave each other uneasy glances in the backseat.
Once it was clear we weren’t staying in the city, Teren leaned forward in his seat to talk to Starla. Clutching my hand tight, he said, “Where are you taking us?”
Starla popped a bubble and looked at him in the rearview mirror. “L.A.,” she said casually.
Teren nodded and sat back in his seat, his cool side edging right up to mine. Starla reached in her purse on the passenger’s seat, dug out her bug-like sunglasses, and turned the radio up. Some pop hit boomed through her speakers and I figured she was discouraging us from asking any farther questions.
I sighed and leaned into Teren, happy that at least, for once, we were doing this little adventure together. Teren sighed as well and kissed my head before leaning his cheek on it. A twin nudged against a sore spot and I adjusted in my seat to get comfortable. Los Angeles? That was several hours from San Francisco. I settled in for a long drive, grateful that once the sun set, Halina would blaze her way to us. She wouldn’t have time to run back to the ranch, but Teren and I could find somewhere for her to hide. It would just be nice to have our “muscle” with us.
After a few silent miles, Teren shifted to look at me. I pulled away from his side and looked up at him. The afternoon sunlight streamed through the windows and highlighted his eyes that matched this sunny Californian spring day. “You smell like paint.” A corner of his lip lifted after he said that.
I smiled and subconsciously rubbed my belly. “Ashley and I were working on the nursery. You should see it…it’s beautiful.” My eyes watered at that. I wasn’t sure why. Maybe the thrill of preparing to see my babies, or maybe the fear that I may never meet them.
His hand came up to cup my cheek and his thumb grazed over the surface. I could hear his skin sliding across mine, even over the music, and I could smell some sort of grease, lingering on his fingers. “You smell like…the underside of a car.”
Starla snorted at that and popped another bubble. Teren ignored her, smiling down at me. “It’s chain grease. I went home and got my bike this morning.” He dropped his hand from my face and looked down. “I just needed to work off some energ
y.”
I grabbed his hand, lacing our fingers. “Did it help?” I asked quietly, knowing his workout was more to relieve stress than exercise, much like my art project today.
He looked up at me, smiling crookedly. “Not really.” I sighed and leaned in to kiss him. Ignoring an annoyed sigh from Starla, who turned the music up even louder, we kissed for a few moments in the backseat. During a break, Teren pulled back and whispered, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Carrie.”
I pulled back, surprised at the road he’d decided to take our conversation down. I noticed Starla stop smacking her mouth and turn the music down slightly, but mainly I focused on Teren. His eyes were wide and remorseful. I shook my head. “That? Of all the things to be sorry for lately…you pick that?” My lips lifted at the corners as I looked over his face.
He smiled slightly at seeing the humor in my mouth and shook his head too. “I just felt like that one was still lingering between us.” He shrugged. “I don’t want to walk into this with anything…between us.” His face turned serious when he said that.
I cocked my head and then nodded. He continued when he saw that I understood his reason for bringing this up again. He sighed and ran a finger through my hair, pulling a fleck of paint out of it. “I should have told you, but everything with us just happened so fast. We never really had the ‘exes’ speech, and it was such a long time ago.”
I smiled, having had that same thought myself. “I know.” I mentally added that we still needed to have that talk – I had a few questions, especially about him and “visiting” female vampires – but I didn’t want to have that conversation with Starla listening. And I was more confident than Teren apparently was, about us getting out of this unharmed.
I stroked his arm as he gazed at my stomach, perhaps thinking of the woman who had briefly carried his child before me. Trying to push back my jealousy, I asked, “Why did you let her remember? Why didn’t you tell your family what happened?” My hand went up to stroke his cool cheek and his eyes lifted to mine. “I’m sure they would have understood.”
He sighed as his eyes flicked between mine. “I…I just…” His voice trailed off as he shifted his vision over my shoulder, to the window. We were out of the city, speeding down the interstate on our way to the largest city in the State, where the elusive group of mixed were apparently hiding out. Blocking his view with my head, I raised my eyebrows, waiting for a response.
His eyes came back to mine and he shrugged. “I knew Great-Gran would take everything…and she was the first girl who loved me, the first girl I loved.” He swallowed, like he hated telling me this. I smiled reassuringly and he continued. “If it were up to me…they’d all have their memories. That was Gran and Great-Gran – protect the family. Of course, now, I can see the logic in that, but back then, I’d have preferred if they all remembered me…like, I actually did exist.” He swallowed again, his eyes watering. “With Carrie…I just wanted someone out there to remember that they loved me once. I just wanted one person to remember me.”
I swallowed at the look on his face, my own eyes watering. “I remember you. I’ll always remember you,” I whispered.
“I love you so much, Emma,” he said, his lips immediately lowering to mine.
After a brief kiss, I pulled back. “I know why your family wanted Carrie wiped, and why some of the girls had to be…altered, but why does Halina take it all? Can’t she leave some of the good parts? The beginning at least?”
He looked down, a small smile on his lips. “You know how they feel about loose ends.” He looked up and shrugged. “They don’t want us running into people who will notice that we don’t change.” He looked down again. “Plus…” His voice trailed off and I lowered my head to meet his gaze again.
With a sheepish smile, he shrugged. “It was easier. If they didn’t know me, then they wouldn’t try and rekindle the romance.” He shook his head as he relaxed back into the seat. Starla in the front seat snorted again, resuming her gum smacking. He glanced at her and frowned. “And they had all proven that they couldn’t handle the truth, in one way or another…” He looked back at me and shrugged. “There was no future with any of them.”
I cocked my head and leaned back. “All of them?” Overlooking his condition had been pretty simple for me, in the beginning, before I’d learned how serious it was. That had taken a bit longer to accept, but I’d done it. It was a little surprising that other women hadn’t been able to see past the species, to the amazing man underneath.
He smiled and leaned into my shoulder. “Until you.” He tilted his head as he regarded me. “You truly don’t understand how rare you are.”
I bit my lip before kissing him again. Their loss…my gain. Sighing, I pulled away. “I suppose I could see why that would make you reluctant to share things about your life. I suppose you’ve just been conditioned to be secretive.”
I reached up to stoke his cheek and he smiled. “Do you forgive me then, for not telling you about her?”
I grinned crookedly, the last lingering remnants of jealousy fading from me completely. His past didn’t matter. My past didn’t matter. Even our futures were vague, grayish blobs of uncertainties. What mattered was today. What mattered was riding in this car with him, and a strange eavesdropping woman, and feeling the love that flowed so easily between us. I still had questions, as he probably did about me, but all of the questions in my head were just to learn more about this unbelievable man who’d married me. There would be no anger, jealousy, or resentments in my questioning. Not when he was so completely mine, and I was so completely his.
That coy smile still on my face, I murmured. “Maybe in a few years.”
Starla in the front seat groaned dramatically and turned the radio back up an earsplitting level. Over the music she loudly said, “You guys are worse than a Hallmark movie. Good god.” Shaking her head, she started singing along to top forty hit and strumming her fingers on the steering wheel, tuning out our love fest. I laughed at her and rested my head on Teren’s shoulder again.
Into my shoulder Teren muttered, “I don’t know where Carrie is, but once we get past this…speed bump, we’ll track her down and I’ll have Great-Gran erase her memories.”
I pulled back to look at him, surprised that he’d concede to her memory being taken. I found myself nodding as I looked him over. He smiled in return and whispered, “You’re the only one I need to remember me, anyway.”
Starla groaned again as Teren and I kissed again.
The drive to L.A. was not a short one, especially when you’ve got two tiny people pressing on your bladder. After the fifth pit stop so I could pee, Starla finally got snippy about my condition, her earlier compassion all but gone. I very politely informed her that I could just relieve myself on her hand stitched leather seats instead? She stopped complaining after that.
Teren made the nearly eight hour drive as comfortable for me as possible, rubbing my shoulders, encouraging me to take a nap on his lap, making me drink a couple packets of blood that Starla had in her car. Quite ingeniously, her group of mixed had designed portable blood packets. They were in silver pouches that you poked a straw through, reminding me of kids’ Capri Suns. They were cold though, and didn’t have the same bite as the warm stuff. But I drank it anyway, not even daring to ask what sort of animal it was from. My stomach just couldn’t handle it, if the answer was one I wouldn’t want to hear.
Just when I was about to forcibly rip the gum out of Starla’s mouth, my very last sore-from-traveling nerve used up, we started entering the outskirts of Los Angeles.
I’d taken family trips down here as a kid, back when my dad was alive. We’d done all the touristy stuff people do in L.A. – Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, Universal Studios, La Brea Tar Pits, counted the stars of the Walk of Fame. You name it, we’d probably done it over the multiple summers we’d vacationed here. But I hadn’t been down in years, not since Dad had died, not since Ashley’s disfigurement.
I found mysel
f taking in the prepackaged beauty of the city. The sun had set on the long drive over and the lights of the miles wide metropolis lit the sky with an orange glow. We wouldn’t need to worry about our eyes in this place. Feeling Halina already racing towards us, I started spacing out, letting memories of happier times with my family flood into me. Then Teren beside me popped up. “What part of Los Angeles do you live in?”
Starla brightened in clear adoration for her favorite city. “The only part of L.A. that matters – Hollywood.” Her face turned a little smug as she bragged about her zip code. I resisted rolling my eyes.
Teren didn’t bother. He even laughed at her a little. “Hollywood…seriously?”
Conversion Book Two: Bloodlines Page 42