Elysium (18 page)

“Why’s that?”

“‘Cause they gave me this dress. I would have never been able to afford it myself.”

It was a gorgeous dress, made of some kind of gold material that made a “swooshing” noise every time it moved. The straps were thin with tiny gold crystals inlaid, and the skirt was bunched in perfect intervals, giving it a full appearance. As I stared at the dress, I realized I had nothing to wear. If every girl was going to be dressed like that, then I needed to get something quick. As if she could read my mind, Violet interrupted my thoughts.

“What does your dress look like?”

“I don’t have a dress, well, not like that anyway.” Her eyes grew large, as if I had just told her the world was about to end.

“What! This is so not good. Unless you have the money for a tailor to make you one, how are you going to make a trip to get a dress?”

I shrugged, thinking maybe I should just cancel playing her background music. I certainly couldn’t go to a black-tie affair in a denim skirt. “I guess I could ask Mikhail what he would suggest.”

“That’s a good idea. He has all kinds of connections in the Manor and could maybe pull some strings.” She was talking, but I could see in her eyes she wasn’t really paying attention. She kept running her hands over the material of her gown, a small smile playing on her lips. I could tell she wasn’t used to having such nice things. She was just like me, and that’s how I knew we would be great friends.

****

I left Violet’s room several hours later, my fingers sore but in a good way. I had played
Moonlight Sonata
over and over again while Violet danced. She was so breathtaking, so ethereal that when she had first started, I’d stared at her, not able to make my fingers work. Before I left, she made me promise to find a dress so I didn’t “bitch out on her”.

I made my way out the Manor’s front doors and towards the clinic, not even sure if Mikhail would be there, but knowing I didn’t know where else to look. I walked down the cobblestone path, my gaze drifting over to the greenhouse, as my body started to warm. The kiss I shared with Cadeon replayed in my mind even though I tried to suppress it. It would only make things difficult in the long run, if I couldn’t keep my emotions in check.

I entered the clinic and waved at Halle, walking towards Mikhail’s office and hearing his and Cadeon’s voices, before I even saw the door. I slowed, seeing the door ajar and realizing they were speaking about me.

“When do you plan on telling her?” Cadeon’s voice was angry with a hint of sarcasm. “I guess you’ve waited this long so might as well push it a little while longer.”

“You’re overstepping your bounds, Dr. Frost. I suggest you mind your own business. Meadow is no concern of yours.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Mikhail.”

There was a beat of silence before I heard Mikhail sigh deeply. “She’s too young. There are so many other females you could go after, Cadeon. Why choose her?”

“You can’t control your feelings. You should know that better than anyone else.”

“You will not go there.” I swallowed as Mikhail’s voice dropped to a deadly growl.

“You’re right. I apologize for bringing it up, but I was making a point. How many years have I watched over everything? Made sure things were good, nothing bad happened? All those years and you expect me to feel nothing? Expect me to not be affected?”

I could hear someone get up and start to pace, the silence building, until it was so thick I felt it in the hallway.

“You need to come clean, Mikhail. I’m not going to keep lying to her.”

I didn’t wait to hear anything else. I took off, running as fast as I could out of the clinic and back to the Manor, not quite sure why I was fleeing, but knowing I didn’t want them to know I had heard what they said. It had all been so cryptic, but there had been something in their words that speared my heart. I felt like I should know what they were talking about, which was a ridiculous notion for me to even consider. Was it the tests they performed on me? Was there something terribly wrong with me? Even though the questions bombarded me, a small voice inside of me told me what they had been talking about had nothing to do with my tests.

I didn’t stop running until I was in my room. I was exhausted and felt the sunrise a few short hours away. It was kind of weird being able to know when the sun was about to rise. I don’t know if I can adequately describe it, but it was like a prickling sensation across my body, almost like when your foot falls asleep, only more intense. It wasn’t pleasant.

I got ready for bed, thankful it was the weekend, but knowing I now had more pressing things on my plate. I still didn’t have a dress, nor did I know how I was going to get one, and I still had to figure out what Mikhail and Cadeon had been talking about. To top it off, Nik thought I was beautiful, which might make things a little awkward, if he wanted something more from me. My life was suddenly becoming more complicated, and I wasn’t sure if I liked it.

The next day, at swim practice, I swam the hardest I ever had. Even though I was trying to do my best, I didn’t even come close to beating the other students. When I finally reached my last lap, I was sucking in great lungfuls of air. My muscles burned, my body protesting that I’d overworked it. I didn’t care though; I had gone from frightened to furious over what I had heard Cadeon and Mikhail talking about. It was true I still had no idea what they had meant by their cryptic words, but the fact that this whole time they had kept things from me rankled my nerves.

I had been very understanding, accepting, and corporative with everything they had told me. Given the circumstance, I thought I was handling everything exceptionally well. Now I find out the two people I put the most trust in were deceiving me—it pissed me off. After rethinking everything through, I knew I needed to confront them and find out what was going on. I gripped the edge of the pool and pulled myself up, sitting with my feet dangling, as I caught my breath. The water dripped to make a puddle around me. The students started filing into the locker rooms since the bell was going to ring any minute. Nik suddenly sat beside me, his speed always surprising me, even though I knew I should be used to it by now.

“You did really good out there.”

I snorted, not very ladylike, but I knew he was just trying to be nice. I pulled my swim cap off and wiped the water out of my face. This was really the first time I’d talked to Nik since Violet had revealed what he had said to her. I was afraid it was going to be awkward, but I was finding out that he was so easy going and comfortable to be around, there weren’t any of those weird feelings between us.

I looked down at where our legs almost touched, his feet dangling farther into the water than mine. He was a huge guy—a gentle giant. “Thanks, but you don’t have to say that. I know I suck.” He leaned his shoulder into mine slightly, so that I tilted to the side. I looked up at him and smiled.

“I mean it. Sure you aren’t the fastest, but you definitely have the most grace.”

“Somehow, I doubt grace is something competitive swimmers strive for.”

“You’re wrong though. Grace is most definitely something a swimmer needs.”

I stared at him, his expression hard to read, but I could definitely see feelings for me reflected in his eyes. I cleared my throat and looked away. “I better change, I’m beat.”

“Yeah.” There was a long beat of silence before he cleared his throat. “I’ve been meaning to ask if you’re going to the dance this weekend.”

We started walking towards the locker rooms and stopped before we got to them. I grabbed my towel and wrapped it around me before looking at him. “I told Lucy I’d be her backup music while she dances, so I’m kind of stuck going.”

He started to rub the back of his neck and suddenly looked nervous. “Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go with me. It’s no big deal or anything, I just thought since we were both going, we could go together, you know, like friends.”

I suddenly felt very awkward. Even though Nik was hot, I didn’t have feelings for him, well, not like I had feelings for Cadeon. I would have liked Cadeon to ask me, but I was smart enough to know it probably wasn’t going to happen. What harm would it do to go with Nik anyway? He had said just as friends.

“Sure, why not.” The smile that spread across his mouth was huge and blinding, and it was at that moment I realized even though he had said he wanted to go just as friends, it was more than that to him.

We said goodbye, and I went into the locker room, taking a quick shower and changing before I headed back to my room. I knew I needed to find out what Mikhail and Cadeon had been talking about, but I would have been lying, if I’d said I wasn’t terrified at what they might reveal. What if there really was something terribly wrong with me?

I decided to go to Cadeon’s office, before going back to my room and seeing if I could unearth what they knew. I didn’t look my best, not with my sweats and tee-shirt, and my hair wet and all tangled.  I stepped into the frigid air, zipping my coat up as high as it would go and tucking my chin in. Colorado winters were notorious for being brutal, but I realized the higher you were in the mountains, the worse the weather got. I was naïve, what can I say.

The clinic’s sliding doors opened, and I quickly walked in, shivering involuntarily as the warmth surrounded me.
Halle wasn’t at her desk, so I made my way towards Cadeon’s office. The snow from my sneakers was melting and making the most obnoxious squeaking noise against the tiled floor. I stopped in front of his office and knocked a few times, the door opening immediately. He stood on the other side looking gorgeous as ever, as he stared down at me. I never could get over how tall and muscular he was. He made me feel so petite and feminine, made my body warm and my cheeks hot. My heart started to pound, and my palms sweated.

“Meadow? What are you doing here?” He stepped to the side, and I walked in, looking at his office for the first time. I had never actually been inside before, and it almost felt intimate to me.

He shut the door, and I turned around. “Can I take your coat?”

I set my bag down and unzipped my coat, handing it over to him and watching as he hung it on the coat rack. I suddenly realized how sloppy I looked, and I felt my face start to heat again. He turned back around, his gaze roaming over my attire before he smirked. I was mortified.

“Is everything okay?” He walked back to his desk and sat behind it, gesturing to the chair in front of me.

I sat down, nervously picking at my shirt and wondering where to begin. I took a deep breath and thought I might as well start from the beginning. “The other day I came by.”

“I know.”

I had been looking at my feet when I spoke, but now I brought my attention to his face. “You did?”

He nodded and leaned back in his chair. “It was after the fact though.”

“After the fact?”

“Yes, of course it was after you had already heard our conversation.”

My cheeks heated again, but I reminded myself they had been talking about me, and therefore, I had nothing to be embarrassed about. I sat up straighter, feeling resolve thrum through me. “I think I have a right to know what you were discussing. It was about me after all.” I expected him to deny everything, saying I had misheard their conversation, but what came out of his mouth shocked me more than anything.

“I agree. I think you should know everything, but it isn’t my place to discuss all of it with you. I’ll tell you what I can, but you need to speak with Mikhail.”

We sat there in silence. I was reeling that Cadeon had agreed with me. “Is there something wrong with me?” He was shaking his head before I even finished my sentence.

His face was stoic, his expression unreadable. “Your blood tests came back normal, well, as normal as blood from a half human, half vampire can be. We couldn’t find any anomalies, although we did test it against UV light, and the results were surprising.”

“UV light? As in sunlight?”

He nodded, rifling through a stack of papers on his desk and handing me a single sheet. “That will probably be confusing, but I wanted to show you the comparison.”

He got out of his seat and walked over to me, standing behind me, so I was aware of his close proximity. I looked down at the sheet of paper, seeing a lot of numbers and graphs that were confusing.

“Here is your blood sample and the levels. We compared it with Mikhail’s and mine.” He pointed to three different graphs, all of which looked foreign to me. “The only anomaly we found was here.” He pointed to a set of numbers and symbols. I didn’t bother pointing out those meant nothing to me. “Really, all that shows is that you have a mixture of human and vampire DNA.”

I looked between the three graphs, two of them having similar values, but all three reading like stereo instructions. “I don’t understand any of this.” I turned my head to the side and looked up at him. He was already watching me, his Caribbean blue eyes darker. I heard him swallow, and my throat went dry. All I could think about was the kiss we shared in the greenhouse and how I wanted to do it again. Unless I was completely misinterpreting his body language and the way his gaze dipped down to my lips, he was thinking about the same thing.

He cleared his throat and looked back at the paper. “This is where we tested your blood with the UV rays.”