Authors: A. M. Hudson
“
Why?” she asked.
“
He’s just…that's just how he always was with girls, before he and I were together.”
“
But I'm not just some girl. I'm his fiancé.” She held up her ring hand.
I shrugged. If she thought she would be any different, she was kidding herself. She knew Mike only for the curse-captured, obsessed version of himself he was with me. But that just wasn’t who he was.
Morgaine hugged Emily close, rubbing her back. “Where’s David, Ara?”
“
Um, he’s on the phone to National Security, dealing with some human issue.”
“
Well, come on then.” She grabbed my hand, keeping an arm around Em. “You’re having a sleepover with us.”
“
Okay,” I said. “But no scary movies.”
Emily and Morg exchanged grins.
“
Knock, knock,” David said softly, peering into the dark room.
“
Shh.” Morg scowled at him.
He pretended to zip his lips, then tiptoed in slowly and crawled onto the bed between Emily and I.
“
What are you doing here?” I whispered.
“
Missed you.”
I reached down and linked my fingers through his, cupping my other hand over his wrist.
“
What are we watching?” he asked.
“
Shh.” Em jammed her elbow in his ribs.
“
Ow.” He laughed and poked her back.
“
Chick flick,” I whispered.
He turned his head to look at Emily, then Morg, and laughed quietly, swiping a tear from Em’s cheek. “Sad movie?”
“
Shut up,” Emily said. “Just because you lack the ability to show any human emotion.”
“
I'm beginning to see why I stopped in the first place,” he said playfully, then wrapped his other arm over Emily’s shoulder and pulled her ear to his lips. “What happened?”
I was about to fill him in on the plot line, when Emily’s lip trembled, and I realised quickly that he wasn’t referring to the film.
My gaze went back to the TV set. I knew anything she had to say would be said in thought—not for my ears, clearly. She was so upset tonight, which could only mean there was more to this story than she’d said. But, of course, she wasn’t about to badmouth Mike with me in the room. I think she knew, deep down inside, which side I’d take. But she was kidding herself to think David would side with her, either; he and Mike were two peas in a pod.
“
I’ll talk to him for you,” David said in that deep, whispery tone.
She shook her head. “Don't bother. I'm not sure I care anymore.”
“
Of course you do, or you wouldn’t be crying.”
“
This would be so much sadder if they were vampires, not humans,” Morg cut in, her mouth full of popcorn.
“
Just pretend they are,” I said.
“
You’re not crying, Ara,” David stated, removing his arm from around Emily. “You always cry in these movies.”
“
Guess I've done my fair share of crying for the next decade or so.”
He sat forward and looked at my face, sinking back again with a sigh. “I'm sorry.”
“
What are
you
sorry for?”
“
Just…” He scratched his chin, leaving his hand just under it for a second after. “I just wish I’d taken better care of you.”
My words were lost, and I think Morg and Em were so shocked by it, even they held their breath. I felt the awkwardness saturate the air then, as both girls slowly turned back to watch the movie, and David looked on with a certain amount of trouble behind that gaze. He wasn't watching the movie at all; he was lost in whatever picture of the past he’d just apologised for. But we all looked up, Morg pausing the film, when a loud rap came down on her door, and before she even got off the bed, the tension rose in the room with the scent of Mike outside.
“
Hey,” Morg said, opening the door only a crack.
“
Hey.” Mike’s arm appeared on the doorframe above Morg’s head. “You got a sec?”
“
Uh, I’ve got…company,” she said, opening the door.
Mike’s mouth popped open a little. “Em, there you are. I was wondering where you’d got to.”
She looked into her lap.
I leaned over and whispered in Em’s ear, “What’s he doing here if he’s not here to see you?”
“
You’re welcome to join us.” Morg’s voice rose over mine in an obvious attempt to shut me up.
“
No, he's not,” Emily said, coldly.
“
Aw, Em, come on.” Mike took a step into the room. “Don't be like that, you know I—”
“
Mike, just go, please,” she said, holding a hand up.
“
You’re serious?”
She nodded.
“
Why? What did I do?”
Morg, Emily and I huffed loudly.
Mike stopped walking, looked at David, then me, then Morg, and turned around, leaving the icy welcome behind.
“
Just give it time, Em,” David said as Morg closed the door. “He’s got a lot going on.”
“
I know.” The tension in her shoulders eased with David’s fingers softly tangling in her hair, rolling her head toward his lap. “I’m just not sure I can always wait for him to care.”
I placed my hand over David's for a second, then stroked Emily’s forehead. “We’re here for you, Em. Okay. You can come move into my room if you want.”
She laughed softly, closing her eyes. “It’ll be okay. We just need a break.”
“
A break?” I said.
She nodded. “I think he needs to lose me to know what it’s like to miss me.”
David looked up from Emily, the deep concern remaining in his eyes. He really cared about her, and I always knew that, but now I could really see it too—could really see the connection they’d formed through months being alone together, sharing blood. And he thought nothing of the fact that she was lying in his lap, her lips just inches away from a place only I should go. But it didn't feel as wrong as it should. It felt like . . . I don’t know, maybe like they had some deeper, untainted connection.
Morgaine sat on the chair again, leaning forward a little as though she was listening to me whisper a secret across the room. I’d seen her do that before, when she was trying to get a feel for a situation, so I gave her a soft smile, which she returned.
“
We ready watch the movie again?”
“
Ready,” David whispered.
Morg pressed play on the remote, then came to snuggle up behind Em, her head on David’s shoulder like he was some Universal Pillow. He’d been a part of each of our lives once—in some way deeper than friendship—and we all owned some small claim to him. He wasn't bothered by the closeness or affection of Em and Morg, and he didn't even seem to notice it bothered me, which probably meant I was looking into it too deeply. So, I rested my head on Emily’s, and fell asleep with David stroking my hair.
Despite falling asleep in Morgaine's bed last night, David tucked tightly between me and Emily, I woke in my own bed, with a pair of radiant green eyes smiling down from the vampire standing above me.
“
What’s this?” I sat up.
“
Something you haven’t had for a while.”
My eyes wound around the cup in his hand, steam rising from the contents, the warm smell of sweet coffee waking my mind. “You made me a coffee.”
“
Only the best for my girl.” He sat beside me. “Did you sleep better last night?”
“
Yeah.” I rubbed my head with one hand, taking the cup with the other. “I didn't even dream.”
“
I know.” He smirked.
“
How do you know?” I studied him, pausing a sip away from tasting the first David-made coffee I’d had in what felt like forever. “What did you do?”
He stared at the bed sheets, as if he didn't want to tell me, but the smile tugging his lips indicated that it wasn’t for any strange reason. “I put you to sleep.”
“
What, like you used to when I was human?”
He nodded, the grin growing. “It seems that, with the power of a king, everything I could do to you before you became immortal, I can do again.”
“
Well, so, are you as powerful as Jason now?”
“
No. My telekinesis is very limited, and I struggle to read the projected thoughts of a stronger vampire, like Mike, but I’m sure, with time, that will change.”
My mouth dropped. I hadn’t expected him to tell me he could do that. “You can read anyone’s projected thoughts?”
His secret smile slipped across his lips. “Like you didn’t already know.”
I sipped my coffee as a distraction, swallowing before saying, “Okay. Maybe I was a little suspicious.”
He exhaled. “Why didn’t you just ask me about it then?”
My lips stopped short of their next sip. “I. . .”
“
Let me guess,” David said, sliding his arm between my neck and the pillow, cuddling me close. “You didn’t even think of it.”
“
It’s not that, David.” I sipped the coffee again. “It’s more like I just figured you’d lie to me, or. . .”
“
Or?”
“
Or ask me why I was curious.”
His spine straightened a little. I was sure he already knew how my curiosities came about—by talking with Jason—but he didn’t want to hear me say it.
“
Can. . .” And here was something I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but kind of needed to. “Can you read unfiltered thoughts yet?”
“
On demand, do you mean?”
“
Yeah. I . . . I know you could do it randomly for a few days after the coronation, but, has that changed?”
The birds outside sang a song to fill the silence, and the gentle breeze moved the still air. David took a slow breath, his eyes switching from thought to humour and back again. “Yes.”
“
Yes, what?”
“
Yes. I can read unguarded, un-projected thoughts again, but—” he said, but ended it there.
“
But?”
“
But . . . not always, and . . . it’s only yours so far.”
“
Mine?” I sat up a little more, balancing the cup in hand so as not to spill the contents. “Why only mine? Am I weak?”
“
Is Emily weak?” He grinned. “I can read hers.”
Hmpf. I turned my head quickly and sipped my coffee, focusing on the liquid.
He just laughed. “I love your jealousy.”
I half smiled into my cup. I knew what he meant, because I loved his jealousy too—the way any mention of Jason made his blood change temperature. “Can you read Jason’s mind?”
He cleared his throat, sitting back a little. “No.”
“
Can he still read yours?”
The conversation had clearly gone sour. “Yes.”
My smile widened. “I love your jealousy.”
“
I, My Queen, do not need to be jealous of my brother.” He took my cup and pushed me gently backward on the bed, a playful grin sweeping the anger from his eyes. “I have you. I married you, and I will never need to play against him for your heart.”
I touched his face, looking from his lips to his eyes. So many words came to my tongue, ready to roll off, tell him how right he was, but that sinking feeling—the one like I’d forgotten a child in the car on a hot day at a supermarket—roiled up inside me. My eyes became smaller, focusing on it. I’d forgotten something. I just knew it. And whatever it was, I needed to remember, because whatever it was, I was sure now, had something to do with Jase.
“
Where do you go?” he said with wonder, his eyes searching my face. “I wish I could read your mind as easily as I used to. I miss knowing everything you're wondering and dreaming.”