Tainted Blood (68 page)

It was odd that our group had ended up as boy-girl pairs, but considering there were fewer girls than boys in the room, I guess it was kind of expected. I was just thankful I’d gotten Carter instead of a stranger.

Zoey and Kiera pulled their desks together with their partners and the four of them pored over information on their dragons. Carter had scooted his desk next to mine, but he was having trouble focusing since Zane—with his lean build, loose blonde curls, and bizarre grayish-lavender eyes—was one of those touchy feely types. Nothing bad, just touching Kiera’s arm lightly when he wanted to show her something he’d discovered.

Finally, I told Carter that maybe we should join the four of them. He agreed and we moved our chairs beside their desks and they welcomed us. The rest of the class worked quietly while Carter kept one eye on Zane’s hands and tried to focus on our topic with the other. He wasn’t doing a very good job, but I figured we’d add in an extra study session the following night. Without the distractions.

After a rather unproductive but chatty class—Jack was a talker and Zane, well, he seemed to be interested in everyone’s stories—Carter decided he wanted pancakes. Next thing I knew the six of us were leaving class, with Felix in tow, heading for a late night pancake fix.

Felix seemed on edge as we headed up the steps of Professor McBaldy’s old class toward the outdoors. I figured it was because he was still leery of Oscar, and we’d just added two more people for him to worry about for the evening. I don’t think I could’ve ever been more wrong.

Oliver was waiting just outside and I greeted him with a big hug and kiss as the others strolled past us. It was the first time we’d really been separated since he’d come back and I hadn’t much liked it. “I was just going to call you to see if you wanted to join us.” I gestured to the group heading toward the parking lot. “We’re going over to the Pancake House.”

“Sure,” he said, flashing my favorite smile. He held me close and gave me a few quick kisses. He glanced past me for a moment, looking toward our group of friends and the two extra people we’d picked up. His eyes met mine again, but just for a second. His whole body tensed and his gaze shifted back to our group of friends who had stop to wait for us to join them. I was instantly on alert and feared the worst.

“What is it?” I asked in a whisper.

Without a response or even a glance back to me, he stepped in front of me protectively, keeping a hand on me as he did so. “What are you doing here?” Oliver shouted toward the group, and I could hear the tension in his voice. All six of them turned toward us, I saw Carter pull Kiera close to him, protectively. I didn’t have a clue who Oliver was talking to and a part of me feared he’d now lost his mind.

Felix took a step toward us, but Oliver held out a hand to stop him. Then Oliver kind of just…freaked out. He doubled over and Felix rushed toward us with the others in tow. Only Zane lingered behind. I think Jack stayed with the others because it was what everyone was doing. He kind of seemed like a follower.

“What’s going on?” I asked to anyone who could answer. Oliver was partly leaning on the wall and partly bent over. It seemed as if he was trying to control himself, taking deep breaths and holding himself. I rubbed his back and again asked what was wrong.

Tears of frustration had filled his eyes by the time he finally stood. “Him!” he spat, pointing at a lingering Zane. “He’s your angel!”

“What?” I heard a few gasps but didn’t look to see
who they’d
c
ome from
. I was seriously confused. Why would I have an angel?

Zane’s strange, grayish eyes moved to Oliver. “I still have the right to a life. Even if she doesn’t need me, for now.”

“Wait,” I said, taking a step closer to Oliver, “what’s going on?”

Oliver didn’t respond to me, instead he whirled on Felix and shouted, “You said he would not be released!”

Felix rubbed the bridge of his nose then dropped his hand. “That all changed when you broke the law.” He said it like he was exhausted. This explained why Felix had looked distressed as we left class.

“Why wasn’t I told?” Oliver demanded.

“You didn’t need to know.”

“The hell I didn’t! You put him in her class! I had every right to know!” I’d seen Oliver angry before, a few times now, but this was different. This was like he was hurt, betrayed even, and I still had no idea what to make of any of it.

“No,” Felix began in a voice no one in their right mind would argue with. “She is not yours, and until she is, Zane has a right to her.”

What the…?

“Whoa, hold up,” Carter interjected. I was speechless and thankful someone had stepped in for answers on my behalf. “Are you saying that this dude here,” he pointed his thumb toward Zane, “is a fallen angel. That he’s Laney’s fallen angel, sent here to save her?” Felix nodded and Oliver bent over again and muttered something about being ill. I put my hand on Oliver’s back but stared at Felix as he responded with a simple, “Yes.”

“Save me from what?” I asked quietly.

“From my brother,” Oliver mumbled, still doubled over, one hand on his knee, the other holding his stomach like he was about to be ill.

I kind of snapped right then. Carter’s eyes fell on mine and in my mind I whispered, “Sorry, friend,” and then I told them all to get away from us.

“Delaney, please listen,” Felix said, and I turned on him. I tried to contain my surprise when he stumbled back a step, and I’m sure it was quite a sight to see, me facing Felix, challenging him. I stood as tall as my five-foot-seven frame allowed, and I faced that massive, pure-bred vampire with every ounce of courage and rage (which happened to be a lot at that moment) I had. “I will not listen to anything you have to say! I have heard enough of your vague riddles. If you want to be honest with me, I’ll listen, but I refuse to play whatever game it is you think you’re playing!” His sky blue eyes widened in surprise.

“Go,” I growled. Surprisingly, he left without a word and the others followed him. Zane lingered behind the others for a moment, eyeing me. When I felt that moment had lasted too long, I shouted, “You stay the hell away from me! I don’t need you!” For all I knew, I’d just invoked the wrath of God or gods or whatever, but at that moment I felt I could take on anything that was thrown at me.

When they’d all disappeared out of our sight, I focused on Oliver. “Let’s go,” I said trying to get him to stand and go to the car.

“Did you touch him?” he asked in a strangled voice.

“What?”

“Did you touch him?” he asked again, his pained, green eyes meeting mine.

“He shook my hand,” I told him.

“Dammit!” he growled up at the sky.

“Why, what does that matter?”

He leaned his back against the wall then slumped down onto the ground. “When a guardian makes physical contact with their charge,” he swallowed hard and finished, “it creates a sort of connection.”

I was silent. His head, resting back against the wall, turned to look up at me. “You felt it, didn’t you?” he asked in a strangled tone. I nodded. I’d felt something when Zane had shaken my hand. It was like some sort of electric spark, like he’d shocked me but it wriggled through my entire body for a moment before it disappeared. I’d thought it was odd but figured it had something to do with all of the vampire blood running through me and I didn’t give it a second thought. I felt slightly betrayed by Felix for not giving us a warning and for allowing this to happen. I was sure Oliver did too.

Oliver dropped his head between his raised knees. “I think I’m going to throw up,” he mumbled.

I crouched down beside him. “What’s happening?” I asked.

His eyes, clearly showing his anguish, looked into mine. “He has the power to pull you away from me. He can feel now because you two touched.”

I felt my own stomach lurch. “What do you mean?”

“They have no sense of feeling when they fall, not until they touch their charge. They can’t feel and they have to be invited in, but once they’ve made their connection…” He reached over and brushed my hair behind my ear. “He’s free to go where he pleases now.”

“You knew about this and didn’t tell me?” He closed his eyes and nodded. “Why?”

His eyes flicked back open and his sorrowful pools of emerald pleaded with me to understand. “He wanted to take you from me.”

“When did this happen?”

“He fell on your birthday.” My breath caught as I thought back to that night.

“It’s why I was called in that night. Felix received a call from the unit that was on angel duty because I wasn’t answering my phone. When they found Zane and asked who his charge was he said your name.”

“This is something that happens often? Angels falling?”

“Every time there’s a storm,” he exhaled. My eyes widened. “Lightning strikes are actually angels falling.”

Holy.
S
hit.

“They don’t typically fall the night their charge needs to be saved. They fall before it happens. He was supposed to protect you from Oscar.”

“I don’t need him to protect me. I have you.” I slipped my hand into his and he gave me a weak smile.

“He can’t go back unless he saves you. He has every desire to get me out of the picture and he will try.” He rested his back against the wall again.

I dropped to my knees next to Oliver and leaned against him. “Why would they do this to you? Set him free?”

He shrugged. “Maybe because of what I did.”

“How do we get him to stay away from me?” he shook his head and panic pulsed through me. Oliver looked as if he’d just given up. Like there was no hope left. I refused to believe that. “Can the connection be broken?”

“I suppose.” He shrugged.

“How?”

“The angel dies, which is easier said than done, or we bond, I guess.” But there was nothing in his voice. He thought this was over, that we, as a couple, had no way of making it. He hardly held onto my hand and I could see it in his eyes. He felt he’d already lost.

I got to my feet and held out my hand. “Let’s go,” I told him. He looked up at me with a puzzled expression. “Let’s leave right now and not tell anyone where we’re going. Let’s just get out of here like you said before.” He silently stared up at me. “Oliver, I know I love you, I do not have a single doubt. I know that I am going to spend the rest of my life with you. I will not let anyone, human, vampire, werewolf, or angel prevent that from happening. So let’s go.” I reached for his hand again and this time he took it. He slowly pushed himself up from ground.

“But we can’t leave, Laney.”

“Why not?” I asked, staring into his mesmerizing green eyes.

“They’ll think I kidnapped you because of all of this.”

I gave his statement a moment’s thought and had an idea. “What if I call Felix once we are gone and tell him that it was my idea? That I left with you willingly?”

“I don’t know, Laney.” He was skeptical.

“Oliver, I’m an adult. I can do and be with whoever I want.” He was silent. “Are you telling me that these people you work for can stop
me
from what
I
want?”

A smile picked at the corner of his mouth. “I love when you’re feisty,” he said, and then he kissed me. And, just like that, my Oliver had his hope back. “Where will we go?” he asked as we hurried to his car.

“Can we go to the house you told me about?”

He unlocked the Challenger and we quickly got inside. “Possibly, but I’m not scheduled to be there for another week. I’d have to check if it’s available.”

“Do you think anyone is there now?”

“It’s unlikely.”

We hurried home to see if the beach house was available and if it was already taken we’d figure something else out. I paced impatiently and chewed my thumbnail, not something I usually did, as Oliver booted up his laptop. I’d be damned if I was going to let something else weasel its way between us.

When he closed the lid, I stopped and waited. He smiled up at me from the desk in our bedroom.

“They’ll know where we are,” he said.

“I don’t care,” I told him. I kind of did.

He pulled me down into his lap and I rested my arms around his neck. “He’ll be able to find us. Well, he’ll be able to find you, especially now that you two have a connection.”

I didn’t like that. I didn’t like being connected to Zane. “I don’t care,” I said stubbornly. I was going to make sure that connection was severed and I was going to make sure Oliver would never be able to be taken from me again.

He nuzzled against my neck and I felt all sorts of feelings surface. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

I slipped from his lap and his green eyes questioned me. “I do not have a single doubt. Now let’s go.” I flashed him a fairly confident smile.

He stood and pulled me into his arms and I gazed up into his beautiful green eyes. He brushed the hair away from my face and his fingers lingered on my cheek. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?” he asked in a low voice.

Oh, I knew I was ready, but I was beginning to think that Oliver wasn’t. “Are you?” I retorted.

The corner of his mouth lifted into a beautifully crooked smile. “I believe I am.” He kissed me long and slow
. I was convinced.