Tainted Blood (8 page)

The other end was silent for a long moment, and then in a softened voice he said, “Delaney, is that you?”

I nodded and instantly realized he couldn’t see me, and I choked out, “Yes.”

“Are you alright?” His voice had gotten even softer.

“I am,” I managed to say.

“That is good news,” he said quietly.

“Are you?” I asked. “Are you okay?”

His accented voice chuckled softly, and he said, “I am better now that I have heard your voice. You have made my day by reaching out to me. But unfortunately, I need to cut this call very short, my dear daughter,” he said very quietly. “We cannot risk anyone knowing that we’ve spoken, okay?”

“I-I don’t understand.”

“My dear, Delaney, please listen. It is still too dangerous for us. I do not want to take the risk of someone knowing that you are—that you know my whereabouts.” He paused for a moment.

“But I don’t know where you are,” I said in a strangled voice.

“It is best this way. I am sorry. I wish we could speak longer. I wish we could be together, but it is not safe at this time, my daughter.”

I didn’t understand; it just didn’t make sense. I was a little hurt and feeling rejected. “I’m sorry I bothered you.”

“Bothered me? No, not at all! I just fear for your safety, my dear. Please try to understand. I will explain someday, but that someday is not today.”

“Okay,” I said with a bit of reluctance.

“Please remember that I love you with all of my heart, my beautiful daughter. I think of you always, and I am sorry that things must be this way.”

I choked up at his words and couldn’t respond.

“I must go,” he said, his voice still just as soft as it had been.

“Okay, bye,” I was able to whisper back.

“Delaney, please have a happy birthday.”

The line was dead after that, and I curled into a ball and cried.

I don’t know what I had expected. I know I didn’t expect to remember him, but I did. All too clearly. I realized that I missed him. Part of me wished I hadn’t asked for Felix to contact him, but a small part of me felt satisfied to know that he did love me, that I hadn’t just been forgotten.

It was strange to miss someone you couldn’t really remember…but I did remember….I remembered my father. Memories of bedtime stories and of him pushing me on the swing at Lilly’s. Memories I was sure weren’t real. I was three the last time I’d seen my father. I was sure those memories weren’t true. They were only memories that I wanted to be real.

After some time, I composed myself and reapplied my make-up before leaving the room. Carter was still on the couch when I finally emerged.

Without looking at me he said, “You ready to go?”

I told him I was, and he turned off the TV and bounced off the couch. “Then let’s go,” he said with his signature goofy grin.

I grabbed my keys and my nearly dead cell then followed Carter out the door. I was annoyed that I had yet to hear from Oliver and I was hoping he’d meet us at the restaurant, but I was beginning to lose all hope that he would.

Carter grabbed my arm just before I started down the steps to the parking lot. I was busy trying to call Oliver, so I gave him a dirty look when he grabbed me. “What?” I snapped as I listened to Oliver’s phone go straight to voicemail, again. He just gave me that same goofy grin and pulled me toward my apartment. “What are you doing?”

“Kiera wants me to grab something for her,” he said as he turned the knob and opened the door to an apartment full of party decorations and my friends, including Oliver.

“Surprise!” they all shouted, and I felt the tears start to well up once again.

Chapter
2 - Surprise!

After being greeted by my surprise party guests, I made my way to Olive
r,
who was keeping his distance from everyone. He had found himself a spot in the corner, where the living room chair had been shoved, and it looked as if he planned to stay planted there for the duration of the party.

He smiled up at me as I reached him. “Hey,
where were you all day?” I asked.

He pulled me down into his lap as he said, “I was with Kiera
all
day, helping
her get this ready.”

“Really?” I was surprised by the idea of them hanging out. It actually amused me. “How did that go?” I could just imagine little Kiera barking orders at my vampire boyfriend. It brought a big smile to my face.

“She’s kind of bossy,” he whispered in my ear. That made me really laugh, and it felt
so
good. He hugged me to him, and I felt full of happiness.

Carter and Kiera made their way to me, and I smacked Carter on the arm.

“Ow!” He rubbed his arm and fake pouted. “What was that for?”

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!”

“What part of ‘surprise party’ do you not get?” He grinned at me, obviously proud of himself for not spilling the beans.

“The part where you’ve
never
been able to keep surprise parties a surprise.”

“Oh, whatever!” He laughed. “Well, if you hadn’t been on the phone all day I probably would’ve spilled.” He wandered off to get some snacks, and Kiera went to answer the door.

Oliver nuzzled against my neck and asked, “Who were you talking to all day?”

“I called my grandparents.” I didn’t plan to mention talking to my father to anyone. He had sounded so serious about others not knowing that we had spoken. I wanted to believe his reasons were true. Not because I wanted either of us to be in danger, but because I wanted there to be a really big reason, a real reason, as to why he wasn’t a part of my life.

“You did, did you?” He kept his arms wrapped around me but his eyes studied mine. “You okay?” he asked.

I nodded and flashed him a smile. Now wasn’t really the time to discuss the topic, and he seemed to realize that. Plus, just then Kiera opened the door to three more guests. Hayden, Isaac, and Felix strolled in. Oliver gave me a little nudge, and I got up to greet the new arrivals.

The party was in full swing. Balloons and decorations in a variety of colors littered the apartment walls and floated across the ceiling. The dining table was covered in a colorful plastic tablecloth with an assortment of snacks. Snacks that looked delicious, especially since I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. There was a big plastic tub full of ice and sodas, and the fridge seemed to be supplied with beer. Gifts were piled up on the counter next to a large bouquet of wild flowers. The flowers reminded me of Lilly’s card which in turn reminded me of her absence. I grabbed a soda, a handful of cheese cubes, and some crackers then leaned against the counter, watching my guests for a few minutes while I fought off the sadness of missing my aunt.

It was a great party, and I really appreciated all that Kiera had done, but it almost felt like she was trying to take Lilly’s place. My aunt had always thrown me a birthday get-together, and they were very similar to the current shindig Kiera was hosting. I suppose it was just in Kiera’s nature to continue on with the tradition, she had always enjoyed helping Lilly put the parties together.

It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate the gesture, I guess, maybe I’d been thinking that a new way to celebrate my birthday would make the fact that my aunt was gone hurt a little less. I don’t know what my problem was. Maybe I was feeling a bit overwhelmed…maybe that was all it was.

Felix was squatted down next to Oliver, and they were speaking very quietly. I’m sure it had something to do with me and my graveyard visitor because when the conversation was over, Oliver glanced up at me for a very small moment then slipped his sunglasses into place, rested an ankle over his knee, and sat back very still as Felix walked away.

Felix made his way to me, gave me a hug, and told me happy birthday once more before telling me that he regretfully needed to leave. He told me he had important matters to take care of, and he hoped that I had a nice party.

After Felix left, I watched the rest of the guests for a few more minutes while continually glancing in Oliver’s direction. Of course I wondered if I was in trouble, but I really couldn’t see how. I’d done nothing wrong.

I watched Kiera and Zoey chatting
. It was obvious what about
since Kiera was holding her hand up, and Zoey was examining the ring on Kiera’s finger. She sure seemed to be enjoying all the attention that ring was attracting.

Carter had found a spot on the couch next to Isaac, and they seemed to be really enjoying their conversation, laughing loudly and talking about who knows what. They’d become pretty close in the time we’d spent stuck at Julz’s house.

Oliver still sat absolutely motionless in the far corner of the room. Hayden had just come out of the bathroom and was perusing the food when Kiera broke away from her wedding talk with Zoey to announce that it was present time.

Zoey made her way to me then and leaned next to me at the counter. “Happy birthday, Laney,” she told me once again. “Are you having a nice time, hun?”

I nodded and smiled at her then returned my attention to Kiera. I watched as she shooed Oliver out of his seat and quietly ordered him to gather the gifts and move them near the chair he’d been booted from. He obediently did as she requested, then he leaned down and whispered something to her as she dutifully arranged the gifts around the chair. She nodded to him, and Oliver left right after that. Without a word to me, he was gone from
my
party, and I was left standing there confused and half listening to Zoey tell me about a recent date she’d been on.

Kiera took my arm, pulled me to the party chair, and got everyone’s attention. She sat on the floor beside me, started handing me gifts, and politely ordering me to open them. I shot her a dirty look that only she noticed, and she smiled up at me cheerfully. She may have been a little
too
bossy for her own good.

I’d never really cared for this part of the party—the part where you get put on display and have to open gifts and pretend each one is the greatest thing ever, then you act thankful while wondering what the hell half of your guests were thinking. Yeah, Lilly knew this about me all too well, and we’d always done the gifts together, after everyone had gone home. That way we could voice our opinions without hurting anyone’s feelings. Plus, we always had a great time, just the two of us. Kiera never agreed with the way my aunt had done the gift giving part of the party, and that was apparent at the moment.

My first gift was no surprise from Kiera. She’d gotten me a purse, and I found it ironic that she and Lilly had both given me pretty much the same gift. Granted, Kiera’s version was more practical, of course, but Lilly’s was more me, of course.

Oliver returned halfway through me opening my gifts, taking up a spot beside Hayden who was leaning against the wall by my bedroom door. I was relieved when he returned and found myself able to relax a bit as I finished opening my presents.

By the time I was done opening my gifts, I had a pretty good haul. Most items were impersonal but
useful: a few gift cards and a couple of new tops
. One top from Hayden and Isaac was funny because on the front of the black fabric, it read “I love vampires” with a big, red glittery heart in the place of the word love. Everybody laughed pretty hard when I opened it, even Kiera, but I could tell that she didn’t understand why it was so funny. The only gift that gave me that “what were they thinking” moment was a bracelet from Zoey. It was very, well, obnoxious. Not in a bad way, just in a “so not me” way. It was, however, very Zoey.

Actually, let me rephrase that, there was another gift that I questioned; the purse Kiera had given me. It was pink—so not me—and I was sure she’d end up “borrowing” it in the future, and I’d never see it again. That, or Hayden would probably sneak off with it before the party was over. I saw her eyeing it from across the room.

Felix had gotten me a rather large gift bag that was filled with a variety of candy, and I wondered if it was a supply I should keep on hand for him. Carter’s gift was a huge box of Lucky Charms that he’d wrapped in a brown, paper sack, and in a small grocery bag was a root beer and a bag of chips with a card in which he’d written, “There’s nothing that a bag of chips and a root beer can’t fix.” It made me smile and brought tears to my eyes that he remembered me saying that to him back when we stayed at Lilly’s.

I was saying thank you to everyone, and Kiera was announcing that cake was only minutes away when the front door opened. Ashton stepped inside, and I shot Kiera a dirty look as she shrugged at me. I saw Oliver’s posture take on a whole new stance, and Hayden, who had been leaning against him where they stood, took a step away, noticing the change in his mood.

The apartment grew rather quiet, and the atmosphere completely changed as Ashton crossed the room to me. He sported his usual designer clothes and a new hairdo. It looked like some sort of faux-hawk instead of all the spikes he’d been faithful to for so many years. He smiled down at me and handed me a wrapped rectangular box.

“Happy birthday, Laney,” he said as I stared up at him. “Go ahead, open it,” he encouraged with a smile that I was sure hid some sort of alternate agenda.