My jaw dropped. Everyone froze. The silence became that profound, I swear I heard Joanna blink.
“I was only going to tell you I love you.”
I pushed my way past a dumbstruck Joanna and a stunned Luke, running back outside and into the comfort of my apartment. I wish someone could have warned me how hard this was going to be. Watching my dad decline on a daily basis had become the equivalent of my own cancer, eating away at my soul. My heart physically ached every day, a heavy dread sat in the middle of my chest, having pieces shredded off of it on an hourly basis.
Right now, I had no idea how the hell I was going to get through this.
Chapter Five
When a soft knock sounded at my door, I expected it to be Marcus. However, when I saw Luke’s grimace staring back at me, I couldn’t ignore the relief I felt.
“Marcus is talking to your dad, trying to calm him down I think,” he said, closing the door behind him.
I walked back to my bed and threw myself on it, staring up at the ceiling. “Why is life such a bitch?”
He gave a light chuckle. “Sometimes she’s good, sometimes she’s bad.”
“I obviously did something really wrong in a previous life. No one deserves to go through this, Luke. I never thought emotional pain could physically hurt but it does, it really does.”
He sat on the bed next to me, making the wooden frame creak under his weight. He grabbed my hand and sighed. “It’ll get better, Cat, I promise. Time heals all wounds.”
I shook my head. “No, it doesn’t. Time just makes it easier to live with.”
“When did you become so philosophical?”
I couldn’t help but grin. I turned my head and looked at him. “We had to have my childhood dog put down when I was twelve. I literally felt like I’d lost a limb. I cried for weeks. He was my best friend.”
Luke’s lips twitched. “You’re comparing the loss of your father to the loss of a dog?”
“That was really traumatic for me and I still miss him now. What the hell do you think losing my dad is going to do to me?”
He squeezed my hand. “Don’t dwell on it. You’re souring the time you do have left with him by thinking about when he won’t be here.” He cleared his throat. “Do you want something to make you smile?”
“If this is another corny joke, it’s really not going to work.”
“Meredith.”
I frowned. What did he mean? Then the penny dropped. I sat bolt upright and covered my mouth with my hands. “No…”
He lifted an eyebrow and nodded.
I burst out laughing. I laughed so hard I actually snorted. By the time I regained any sort of composure, I had stitch in both my sides and my jaw ached. “But…” I laughed again “…it’s a girl’s name.”
“Nowadays, yes, it is. Traditionally speaking, it’s actually a unisex name and back in the day was given more to boys than girls.”
I giggled. “That justifies nothing.”
“I’m so glad I shared this secret of mine with you.”
“You wanted to make me smile.”
He grinned. “Well, that definitely worked.”
“So where did Luke come from?”
He pulled his lips into a thin line. “My middle name.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Which is?”
“Hey, I gave you Meredith. That's enough for today.”
I poked him in his side, just under his ribs. I expected the normal reflex of most people, bending away and complaining how it hurt. Instead, I found my fingertip nearly bending back on itself. How could he be so solid?
“Lucius,” he said.
I sat up, trying to hide the fact I was nursing my bent finger. “That’s not that bad.”
“Meredith Lucius?” he said, snorting. “Come on.”
I pressed my lips together, hiding a grin. “Kinda sounds like Meredith Lucious.”
He stared at me with a blank face. “Thanks, Cat.”
“At least,” I giggled. I couldn’t say what I wanted to say without laughing. I sucked in a deep breath and started again. “At least if you wanted to do drag you’ve already got the name.”
“Good night, Cat,” he said, standing up.
I burst out laughing. “Oh, come on. If this was the other way around you’d be doubled over with laughter.”
“You mean if your name was Meredith?”
“Very funny, you know what I mean.” I gasped. “Oh my word. You know that thing you’ve always wanted to do, driving in some posh garage in a rotten old car? You've got to give them your real name. It would make it sooooo much funnier.”
He folded his arms over his chest and cocked his head to one side. “I’m sorry, you actually think I'm going to willingly tell someone my real name?”
“You just did.”
He rolled his eyes. “You’re different.”
“Tell them you’ll give them X amount as a tip if they don’t laugh at your name.”
Mischief twinkled in his eyes. “That’s not a bad idea...I like that...”
“Glad to be of service,” I said, grinning.
“Only if you come with me though.”
I groaned. “I’ll think about it.” I patted the bed and looked up at him. “Sit, please.”
His lips twitched at the hint of a smile. “Only if you promise to quit mentioning my name.”
“Well, that’s a big ask…”
He narrowed his eyes at me, smiled, and sat down. “What’s up?”
“Why…” I sucked in a deep breath “Why did you ring Marcus?”
He looked away and sighed. “Because I knew you’d need some comfort.”
“And I couldn’t have gotten that from you?”
“Cat,” he whispered, closing his eyes. “That wouldn’t have been right, and you know it.”
I pulled my lips into a thin line. Deep down I knew he was right. I’m not sure what irritated me more—the fact I couldn’t hug Luke or the fact he’d correctly taken the high road.
“You could have at least warned me,” I said in a feeble attempt to claim some standing.
“I didn’t call him until we got here. By that point you were with your dad.”
I frowned. “Ok, fine, you win. I’m not going to forgive you for this just yet though,” I said, smirking.
“And why would that be?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow up.
“Because I’ve now got to have an awkward conversation.”
“Ah. You mean fix the lovers tiff you had last night?”
When he said ‘lovers’ my stomach jumped and my heart fluttered. Of course, nothing like that had happened yet but the implication of it made me feel all sorts of odd things.
“We’re not technically lovers you know,” I said, my voice quiet. I could feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment.
“I know. I just wanted to poke fun,” he replied, grinning.
“Alright, Meredith, be careful.”
“I can’t believe you just said that.”
“Well believe it ‘coz it just happened.”
All of a sudden he lunged at me, a mischievous grin on his face, and outstretched arms. When he started tickling my sides, I screamed and burst into laughter.
“Luke, no!” I yelled, wriggling off the bed to escape him.
I ran across the room, somewhat debilitated by my laughter, and soon found myself doubled over, resisting the urge to pee, as Luke mercilessly tickled my sides.
“What the hell is going on?”
We both instantly stopped, all joy evaporated as the frivolous activities ceased. Luke backed away from me allowing me to stand up straight. The aching grin on my face turned into pressed lips and a disgraced look. I felt like a naughty schoolkid who’d been caught messing around in class.
“I’m going to leave you two to it,” Luke said, holding his hands up. “If you need anything, Cat, just ring me.”
I nodded. “Thank—”
“She has me for that,” Marcus said, glaring at Luke.
/>
Luke flickered his eyes over to me for brief second. He tweaked his lips into the barest of smiles and then left.
I folded my arms over my chest and stared at Marcus. “Well that was rude.”
He narrowed his eyes at me, their sapphire depths glistening with anger. “Ruder than walking in on another man touching my woman?”
My jaw dropped. “First of all, don’t try and make it sound like something it wasn’t. He was tickling me, Marcus, you know, that fun thing that people do. Secondly, don’t talk about me like I’m some kind of possession. I’m a person, not a thing.”
His eyes softened and he seemed to deflate ten feet. “I’m sorry. I just…you know how I feel about him.”
“That’s your issue, not mine. Don’t project your problems onto me and expect me to carry them too.”
“Ok, I apologise.” His lips curved up into a wicked grin. “But can I say I told you so when he proves me right?”
I gave a half-hearted giggle. “He won’t.”
“We’ll see.”
“Marcus…”
“I’m sorry,” he said, holding his arms out. “I’m just glad you’re talking to me, even if you are mad at me.”
I softened slightly. “Well, I guess nearly a day is long enough. Unless you disagree?”
“Me disagree with you?” He walked towards me and settled his hands on my hips. “I wouldn’t dare.”
“Well that’s a good thing,” I said. “At least you know your boundaries.”
He grinned. “I’ve missed you.”
“That’s cheesy. It’s been like twenty-four hours.”
“It’s felt like an eternity.”
I rolled my eyes. “Come on, quit the corny lines.”
“Ok, you got me.” He slid his hands from my hips and took both of my hands in his. A serious shadow overtook his face. “I really am so sorry, Caitlyn, I’ve no idea what possessed me to even let you wear that dress.”
I pursed my lips and looked up at him from beneath my lashes. “Why didn’t you just tell me?” I whispered, tears beginning to form in my eyes.
“You looked…there were no words to describe you, Caitlyn, amazing, incredible, so beautiful. I felt so lucky that a woman who could look like that was on my arm. It wasn’t about me trying to turn you into her. I would never do that. You are your own person. Out of all the dresses in my sister’s wardrobe, I didn’t expect you to pick that one.”
His eyes were so imploring, so full of honesty and care, my defences were rapidly breaking down.
I squeezed my eyes shut for a brief moment. “I just wish you’d told me, Marcus. What must your family have thought?”
He looked away and licked his lips. “My father scolded me as if I were a naughty three-year-old. He was horrified. Several of my aunts and uncles had similar opinions. They put me in my place but by that time you’d already gone.” He looked back at me. “It was a stupid mistake and I swear to you I will never hold anything back again. I promise.”
He lifted my hand to his mouth and brushed a delicate kiss across the back of it, giving me goosebumps. I shivered and relished the feel of his skin on mine once more. I couldn’t explain it, he was like a drug to me, something I couldn’t stop from wanting once he was in front of me.
“I’m sorry I involved Luke. I just…I needed to get out of there.”
He instantly tensed. A muscle in his neck twitched. “I’m going to ask you one question and I would appreciate your complete honesty. Regardless of whether I will like the answer or not.”
I knew what was coming but I played along anyway. “Ok.”
“Did anything…has anything ever happened between you and him?”
“No…” I pulled my lips into a thin line. “We are just friends. He’s very respectful of our relationship.”
Marcus snorted. “Sure.”
“He is.” I decided to go full blown honest with him. “I fell asleep on his sofa and had a bad dream. I woke up screaming, covered in sweat. To cut a long story short, the sofa was a sofa bed and when he made it for me, I asked him to stay with me in the bed, in case I had another nightmare. I wanted comfort and reassurance, nothing else.” His grip on my hand tightened. “But Luke said no. He felt that was crossing boundaries, so he slept on the other sofa instead.”
“I almost want to say that’s admirable of him,” he said, through gritted teeth. “Why turn to him of all people?”
“My nightmares have been getting worse and whenever I wake up, I’m alone. I just…for once wanted something familiar and soothing to wake up to instead of a dark room and the sound of my own screams.”
He clasped his other hand over mine, completely encasing it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realise they’d gotten that bad. Why didn’t you just ask me to stay with you? You know I would have done.”
“I shouldn’t have to ask. It should be an obvious thing. You know I have nightmares.”
“I never realised they bothered you that much. You don’t really talk about them so I thought they were inconsequential.”
“Well they do bother me, a lot. Some nights I wake up crying, others screaming. It would just be nice to have a hug. That’s all I wanted when I asked Luke.”
“My beautiful Caitlyn,” he breathed, moving his hands to cup my face. “I’m so sorry. I never meant to be such a…let down. All you need to do is tell me what you want from me and I’ll do it, no questions asked.”
I nodded.
“Can I kiss you now?”
I grinned. “I suppose.”
He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine, firm yet tender. I sighed contentedly and reached for him, curling my hands around his neck. He deepened the kiss, making me putty in his hands in an instant. Guilt riddled me as I wished we’d done this last night. Damn my mother and her stubborn genes.
I broke the kiss after a minute or so and said, “I hate to kill the passion and all that, but I think you need to finish telling me about Tatiana.”
He grinned at me. “Really?”
“I need to know about my competition.”
He laughed. “There is no competition.”
“Oh come on. It’s standard. Exes are always a threat.”
“Then we need to have a conversation about yours, hmmm?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t spin this around on me.”
“Ok, we’ll leave it for now, but I haven’t forgotten.” He tapped the side of his head and grinned. “What do you want to know about Tatiana?”
“You said she was human.”
He nodded. “Yes, she was and I liked it like that. I wanted things to stay that way but she…she had other ideas.”
“She wanted you to turn her?”
“Yes. She tried every trick in the book to get me to do it, including slitting her own throat.” He visibly winced. “She ran a blade across her throat right in front of me as we sat down to eat one night. She knew I’d have no choice but to give her my blood to heal her wound but the rate at which she was losing blood meant she would die.” A small smile crossed his lips. “She was wily, always intent on getting her own way. She’d planned it so carefully, almost to mathematical precision. Except what she didn’t expect was my reaction.”
I frowned, adrenaline pulsing through me at hearing his sad story. “What did you…do?”
He hung his head, as if ashamed by his previous behaviour. “I held her in my arms as she died.”
I almost choked on my sharp intake of breath. “You…you didn’t give her your blood to save her?”
“I couldn’t,” he cried. “I wouldn’t wish this life on my worst enemy. You humans, you think it’s all so easy to live forever, to be invincible, but with all the pros come as many cons. I was not going to subject the love of my life to what I considered to be a curse.”
“Wow,” I said, surprised to find a film of tears covering my eyes. “That’s intense.”
“That’s not the end.”
I hesitated. What? “It’s not?”
&nb
sp; He shook his head. “She’d taken steps beforehand. See, she’d met my cousin, Gordon, earlier that day and he’d convinced her that I didn’t love her. Combined with what she wanted and what I refused to give her she was inclined to believe him. He set the whole thing up, put the plan inside her head…but not before he gave her a good dose of his own blood.”
My hand flew to my mouth. “So she…turned?”
“Three days later, after I thought I’d laid her to rest in the chapel, she stormed back through my door. She threw her ring back in my face and made a promise right there and then that if I ever fell in love again, she would turn them right in front of me.”
I was speechless. I didn’t know what to say. What a story.
“Gordon will go back to her and tell her about you. She’s incredibly vindictive and knows how to hold a grudge. If she thinks I’m even remotely interested in a woman, she will come for them. She’s been waiting for this for three hundred years.”
My jaw dropped. A nervous energy overtook my body and I started trembling. “She’s…she’s still alive?”
“Very much so. I don’t know what contact she has with Gordon. I suspected they were an item for a while after it all happened, but I can’t be certain. Obviously my relationship with Gordon is pretty much non-existent.”
“Where…where is she?”
“Last I heard, she took off to Romania.”
Panic gripped me harder by the second. “When did you hear that?”
“A few weeks after it happened. I’ve done a good job of blocking her from my memories since then.”
Icy spikes of fear lodged in my chest. Was this it? Was this going to be my grisly end? “In other words, you haven’t got a clue where she is?”
He grimaced and shook his head. “As much as I want to keep you away from me, I’m also the only person who can protect you from her. I don’t…” he scrubbed his hands over his face “…I don’t know what to do for the best.”
I shrugged my shoulders and tried to look on the bright side, to be optimistic, like Dad. “Maybe you’re just being over cautious. Maybe she won’t bother after all this time.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know her like I do. She won’t let this go for as long as she lives.”
Love, Lies and Blood Ties: A young adult paranormal romance (Love, Lies and Ties Book 2) Page 5