Tainted Blood (15 page)

“It’s okay, baby girl.” Her voice was exactly the soothing and motherly tone my memories recalled. “Someday you will understand.” She held me a little longer then told me she needed to be going. She stood and said, “I love you, my sweet princess.”

My voice hitched when I replied, “I love you, too.”

She smiled down at me sitting on the bed, and then she was gone, just faded away right there in front of my eyes.

I didn’t fall back to sleep. I just lay there, curled in a little ball, freezing and sobbing for what seemed like hours.

I was all cried out when the sun began to peek through the blinds and throw rays of light onto the wall. It was about then that Oliver finally stirred. I was facing him when he stretched and opened his eyes. He smiled sleepily at me and said, “I remember waking up to you once before.”

I looked at him like he was crazy, raising an eyebrow and everything. “What?”

He shook his head and laughed quietly. “I don’t know,” he said in a tired voice and he stretched again.

“Since when do you sleep?” I asked.

“That’s the first time in a
very
long time. You were so exhausted, I felt it, and I think it affected me, too.” He smiled at me, all crooked and gorgeous, and his beautiful green eyes held me. He focused on my lips and just before his lips met mine I said, “My mom was here.”

It was his turn to look at me like I was crazy. “What are you talking about, Laney?”

I sat up, pulled my fleece out from under him, then said, “My mom, her ghost, she was here last night.”

He sat up and looked down at me. “You’re freaking me out. Are you being serious?”

“Totally.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t just a dream or the witches messing with you again?”

I wasn’t positive how I’d really known, but I told him that I was sure and I said it with as much conviction as I felt, which was about ninety-nine percent.

He sighed heavily, his body sagging. “What did she say?”

Tears welled up again. “That she loves me and that she wishes she could’ve been the one to raise me.” Tears spilled over and I wanted to tell him more. I wanted to tell him that she had visited my father too and that he obviously knew about the supernatural world. But I didn’t, I couldn’t say any more. He pulled me against him and held me there until I was calm.

“You okay?” he asked. I nodded against his chest. “I love you,” he said softly against the top of my head.

“I love you, too” I said back quietly.

“I’ve got a meeting with Felix this afternoon. Do you mind if I tell him about this? He might have some insight.”

“That’s fine,” I whispered.

He let go of me and slipped off of the bed, stretching once more as he stood.
He smiled down at me, his hair a little poofier than usual, then he
r
eached down, took my hands, pulling me off of the bed and into his arms.
“
Let’s get you some breakfast.”

“What about you?” I asked looking up at him.

He thought for a moment, then let go of me and headed for his closet. “Yeah, I should probably eat.”

I watched him pull a stainless steel water bottle from the fridge in the secret space in the wall. He closed everything back up and ushered me out of the room.

Kiera was making breakfast and Carter was sitting with his face on the dining table and his arms over his head.

“Anyone else feel like they have a Halloween hangover?” Carter groaned from under his arms.

“No one made you eat that
entire
bag of candy last night,” Kiera said playfully from the kitchen.

“I must have missed something,” I said as I took a seat at the table.

“Oh, you only missed genius over there,” Kiera said, pointing at Carter with the spatula she’d been using to stir the contents of a skillet, “thinking that eating thirty fun-size candy bars in one sitting was a good idea.” She laughed then went back to cooking breakfast.

“The bag said
fun-
sized. It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Carter groaned back. Kiera giggled from where she stood in front of the stove.

Oliver plopped down in the chair next to mine and took a gulp from his water bottle. He pulled it away and looked at it curiously then took another drink as I watched him. “So,” he began, and his eyes met my curious ones, “you have any plans for today?”

“Not really,” I shrugged. “We’re going to Kiera’s parents’ for dinner tonight, but other than that, nothing.”

Kiera and Carter were planning to tell Kiera’s parents about their engagement, and since Zoey and I were part of the wedding party, Kiera wanted us there. I think she was hoping our presence would help keep Mr. and Mrs. Blake calm. I was hoping so too, and I wasn't looking forward to the dinner at all. Well, the actual food I was looking forward to; it was the announcement I was dreading being a part of. But I think we all felt that way.

“You want to come with us?” I asked real sweetly, hoping to entice him.

He gave me a very sexy, crooked smile and said, “As much as I’d love to spend my evening with you, I unfortunately need to make a quick trip down to Sacramento.”

“Oh?” I responded.

He leaned forward and brushed a loose curl behind my ear. I had forgotten that my hair was still all fancied up and stuck in place from Kiera’s extreme use of hairspray and bobby pins.

“There’s been a, ah, well… There’s been an altercation involving Levi and I must go remedy it.” His eyes held me and I felt myself get lost in them.

He lightly brushed the back of his fingers against my cheek and I leaned into his hand. I really just wanted to stay home, and I wanted Oliver to stay home with me. I knew that wouldn’t happen, he had work stuff to do. I was still feeling pretty tired from all the stress, drama and witchy crap from last night. And the fact that I’d gotten very little sleep and a visit from my deceased mother only added to my exhaustion.

Kiera set a heaping plate of fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, and bacon in front of Carter and asked me and Oliver if we’d like any. Oliver politely declined, of course, but I enthusiastically said, “Yes, please!” When she placed a plate full of food in front of me, every question I wanted to ask about Levi’s altercation flew from my mind.

After I devoured breakfast, I showered and it took me three shampoos to get all of the hairspray that Kiera had applied out of my hair. It was just after nine when Oliver left. He gave me a really long good-bye kiss that made my knees weak. Carter and Kiera had left too. Carter had taken up jogging in the mornings and Kiera decided she’d give it a try and joined him. I was pretty sure she wasn’t going to stick with it.

So I sat there, alone, in the quiet of my boyfriend’s apartment, curled up on the couch, and pondered the last few days of my life. Ashton knew something. Or at least, he thought he did, but I was pretty damn sure he knew something that he really shouldn’t. I couldn’t believe that Felix hadn’t spoken to Oliver about the Ashton thing. I thought they kept in constant contact. Oliver had taken my birthday off. Not that it had worked out that way, but I saw them talking at my party... Whatever, I was probably putting way too much thought into the wrong thing. Ashton, he was a problem. He was constantly trying to push Oliver, to set him off…
He honestly couldn’t
be
think
ing
that would make me like him, could he?
If so, that boy had more problems than I had originally imagined.

I thought about my mother’s ghost and it brought tears to my eyes. It had seemed so unreal, and had probably just been a dream. But if it wasn’t, why would she have waited so long to visit me? And why didn’t Lilly make an appearance…or had she?

I convinced myself that it had to have been a dream or those witches again, and I also convinced myself that Oliver probably thought I was losing my mind. But he hadn’t acted like seeing a ghost was such an unusual thing and I wondered if he’d ever had it happen to him.

There was just no way my dead mom was in our room last night. Just no way…
Or was there…?

Time had ticked by quickly and I thought about every little moment leading back to my birthday.

That’s when I remembered Phen. It was just before ten when he popped into my thoughts. I didn’t mull it over for long. I actually didn’t put much thought into it at all. I got my shoes on, grabbed my purse, phone, and keys then headed out the door. I knew I shouldn’t. Felix had adamantly stated I was not to speak to Phen again, that there were plans in place for Phen. I didn’t see how us speaking could really affect that. All Felix had done by telling me this information was made me more intrigued.

Plus, that feeling I got when he was near was so…good. So calming. Almost how I felt with Lola… And I could really use some calm.

Chapter
7
–
Phoenix

I admit that when I pulled up in front of the cemetery gates I seriously considered turning around and going back home. But I didn’t. I was drawn to Phen, not in a sexual way, just drawn to him. Like I needed to know him or something… I just couldn’t explain it.

I stood at the tall, cemetery gates for some
time, repeatedly
telling myself that I was doing nothing wrong. If this were true, why was I so torn? Having Oliver mad at me was one thing. I knew he’d get over it, but purposely defying Felix was weighing heavily on me.

Finally, I gave myself a mental push and crossed the threshold.

Phen was sitting on that same marble bench beside the magnolia tree where Lilly’s headstone rested. His back was against the tree, and his legs were stretched out in front of him. He had his arms crossed over his chest and he was wearing the same thing Oliver always wore when he left for work: jeans, a black zipper hoodie, and dark sunglasses—the same thing Phen had worn the previous times I’d seen him.

He was
completely still, and as I took a step off the path toward him, I felt calmness settling around me.

“I thought you might not show,” he said without moving.

“I probably shouldn’t have.” I was standing beside my aunt’s headstone wondering again if it had really been her I’d seen last night.

He straightened and scooted to one side of the bench, patting the other side for me to sit next to him as he asked, “And why’s that?”

“I’ve been told to stay away from you.”

“Have you?” he said with the hint of a smile.

I nodded. “I was told that there are plans in place for you.”

That hint of a smile vanished. He didn’t respond, just sat forward and rested his elbows on knees.

“But,” I continued, “I don’t see how us having a conversation would endanger any plans you have.”

He turned his head toward me and that sweet innocent smile touched his lips. I sat beside him and I felt…comfortable, relieved even. It felt like everything was right in the world. I knew it wasn’t, but that was an awesome feeling, so I let myself get lost in it and pretend.

“They are not my plans,” his voice was just above a whisper.

“I’m sorry?” I questioned.

“They are not my plans,” he said, his face turning toward mine again.

“I don’t understand,” I told him. “Felix said there were plans for you.”

“Exactly. Plans
for
me.” He sighed and slipped his glasses off. He stared down at them in his hands and continued talking, “My future is not my own.”

He sat back, resting against the tree again, his eyes meeting mine for a moment. My breath caught but I don’t think he noticed. He continued on and I tried to give him my full attention but it was hard to remove my focus from his mismatched eyes. He had one very dark brown eye and one very beautiful blue eye.

“My life has already been planned for me,” he told me.

I blinked myself out of my distracted state and said, “That kinda sucks.”

“Yeah, it
kinda
does.”

I couldn’t help staring at his eyes, at how out of the ordinary they were and yet… Something stirred in the dark recesses of my mind.

He narrowed his mismatched eyes on me. “What?” he asked.

“Your eyes. They’re so…different.” I caught myself too late and realized my words came out sounding a little rude. “I mean, I’ve never seen anyone with different colored eyes like yours.”

“It’s genetic,” he said, seeming suddenly uncomfortable. He shifted and leaned forward once again, resting his elbows on his knees after plucking a leaf from the grass. He frowned in concentration as he began to shred the leaf.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized. “I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s actually really cool looking,” I told him and he smiled again, his tension disappearing.

“It’s no big deal, I’m used to it.”

I forced a smile but felt like an idiot for making a big deal over his eyes. I picked at a loose thread on my T-shirt. “Oh!” I said. “It’s your birthday, isn’t it?”

He grinned and nodded.

“Well, happy birthday.”

“Thanks,” he said.