Because the Night (The Night Songs Collection) (5 page)

Chapter Eight

I tossed and turned all that night, my meeting with Tristan on repeat in my brain. His cold grip on my arms. The fangs. The pulling me in and pushing me away. Like the tide. If I had actually slept, I would have thought it was a nightmare.

This was exactly how I didn’t want to find him. Lost. Before he shut me out, I’d been the only one he felt comfortable talking about things that bothered him. What was really going on. Comfortable being himself with. At least that’s what he always told me. If I let him go, would he find someone like that again? But if I stayed, would he let me in?

I didn’t think I could get back on the plane if this is the way things ended between us.

Blade called the next morning, wanting to see me again before I left. I couldn’t think of a better distraction.

I climbed into the car and smiled at him tiredly. “Hey,” I said.

Blade frowned. “What’s going on? You look exhausted.”

My eyes automatically darted to the side view mirror. They were puffy and had dark smudges underneath. “Yeah, I hardly slept last night. I, uh, found out that a friend from the Vineyard died.”

“I’m so sorry. Were you close with them?”

“Yeah.” I hoped my short answer would give Blade the hint I wasn’t ready to talk about this yet.

“That really sucks. I wish I could do something to make it better.” He raised a hand like he wanted to touch my arm, but dropped it back to his lap instead. I wished he’d touched me, his warm fingers might drive away the sensation of Tristan’s cold, dead hand there last night.

“You are making it better. I’m glad you called.”

Blade’s shoulders fell. “Are you up for doing a little something tonight? Maybe some takeout and a movie?”

“Perfect.” Keisha had made plans with Janelle and Amanda to go out tonight. I’d had my fill of vampires. I needed to just chill.

“What do you like on your pizza?” Blade asked as he pulled away from the hotel.

“Anything, really.”

“Even anchovies?”

“Yuck! No!”

Blade laughed. “OK, no anchovies. Meat, veggies?”

“All OK. I usually make veggie pizza at home. I like to cook.”

“Nice. You’ll have to make it for me sometime.”

“I will. So where are we doing this pizza and movie thing?”

“I was thinking going back to my house? Give you a taste of everyday life around here. You know, in case you ever make it a thing.”

“I’d love that.” I couldn’t be happier that Blade had hopped on the Keep Callie in Las Vegas Bandwagon. Now, if I could only pull it off. Could I do it? If I went home and announced that I wanted to move, my parents would never let me, no matter how hard I begged. It didn’t matter that I was technically an adult, they kept strict rules. I knew they were just trying to protect me, but they smothered me. The little bit of freedom I had this week felt
good
.

Blade headed south on the strip and pulled into a strip mall that housed a pizza place. We both headed inside and perused the menu board.

“So, what do you think?” he asked, an adorable furrow appearing between his eyebrows.

“You’re the expert.”

“Alright. Anchovies it is,” Blade threatened as he went up to the register to order. He ordered a cheese pizza, a sausage pizza, mushroom and onion pizza, and an order of chicken wings.

“That’s enough food for an army!”

He grinned. “I figured I’d get a little of everything since I wasn’t sure what you wanted. My brother will probably want some when he gets home from work, too. And pizza makes a pretty rad breakfast.”

“Pizza for breakfast?”

His eyes widened. “Seriously? You’ve never had pizza for breakfast? You’ve lived a really sheltered life, Callie. Pizza is the best breakfast ever. That and birthday cake.”

“How could cake possibly be bad?” I asked, moving in closer to him so he’d put his arm around me, before changing the subject. I knew Blade’s brother was a bartender. “What time does your brother get home?”

“Not until like five AM. But it’s okay; I’m allowed to invite girls over.”

“Where does he work again?”

“The Bloody Heretic Hall,” Blade groaned. “Vampire schlock at its finest.”

“Sounds pretty terrible.”

The aroma of the food filled the mustang and made my stomach rumble. Blade again headed south until the road quieted down to a few lonely dirt paths wandering away from it. We turned down one of them and he pulled into a rocky driveway in front of a sun baked ranch.

“Welcome.”

I followed Blade inside the house. He told me that he and his brother inherited the house from their uncle, and things looked like they hadn’t changed much since they took over. The living room had a warn hardwood floor, an orange and brown plaid oversized couch and chair, a dark wood coffee table and end tables topped with lamps with large shades. There was an orange shag area rug in the middle of the room. Built ins overflowing with DVDs framed the fireplace. Besides the modern technology, it was like a museum piece 1970’s Middle America home.

“Wow, this isn’t what I expected.”

“Well, I like old things, as you’ve probably figured out by now. And it’s kind of nice to have my uncle’s stuff around. I liked coming down here when I was a kid.”

“It’s really homey.”

“I’m glad you like it.” Blade placed the food down on the gold kitchen counter and turned to face me. His eyes had darkened as he studied me, a faint smile playing on his lips. He moved closer, leaning in to kiss me, sliding his hands around my waist gently.

The feeling of his hands on my hips was nothing like Tristan’s rough touch the night before.

I was not going to think about Tristan now.

Instead, I leaned into the kiss, getting lost in the feel of his soft lips moving against mine. Blade’s thumb softly stroked the skin right above the belt loop of my jeans and I shivered as warmth surged through me.

“I’m so glad I went to that party,” he said as he pulled away slightly, his thumb still stroking the small of my back.

“Me too.”

“I’m glad you’ve spent so much of your vacation with me.”

“I can’t think of anyone I’d rather spend it with.” But I knew that wasn’t exactly true. My heart squeezed itself inside my chest. Why couldn’t I forget Tristan?

I’d been asking myself that question ever since he walked into my life.

Blade kissed me again, deeper this time, his hands moving up the sides of my stomach. I moved my hands from his shoulders to his hair, pulling him closer to me. It was so easy to get lost in kissing him, his touch. Even though we’d just met, he felt so familiar to me. Like we could do this forever.

We finally got around to eating dinner. I grabbed a slice of cheese and a piece of mushroom onion, now lukewarm, along with a couple wings. We sat on the couch, watching game shows while we ate.

“Pick a movie that you haven’t seen.” Blade motioned to the wall of DVDs when we finished with our pizza.

“That shouldn’t be hard.” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“I probably haven’t seen many of these at all. I might need your help.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. We don’t have cable at home. And I never go to the movies.”

“Are your parents members of a cult or something?”

I laughed. I was used to this. “Maybe. I think they’re just hippies though. They like living off the grid.”

“So hippies don’t like movies?” He asked.

“It’s not that, we’re just busy. Our family runs a restaurant. We’re up early and we work a lot.” I didn’t know any different way of life, though being in Vegas, I was learning I’d missed out on a lot. But the things I liked about life here all had to do with Blade. “Usually I’m doing my schoolwork at night.”

Blade got to his feet and gave me a wicked grin. “You’re going to regret letting me pick.” Blade popped in a comedy and we snuggled on the couch under an afghan, his arms wrapped around me. The movie was hysterical, but it was hard to concentrate. I was more interested in his fingers stroking my arms, surrounded by his scent, feeling the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.

“Want to make it a double feature?”

“Sure. Pick something else I need to see.”

Blade hopped up and grabbed another DVD he must have already had in mind. He came back to the couch and arranged himself around me and under the afghan. I was so comfortable under the blanket, listening the rhythm of Blade’s heartbeat; I could finally let myself relax enough to slip into sleep.

I woke up to the sound of a door closing. My heart already beat double time from the unexpected interruption, but when I opened my eyes and I wasn’t sure where I was, I really began to panic. I tried to jump up but something held me down. Once my eyes adjusted to the dark, I realized that Blade’s arm that was slung around my stomach. I must have fallen asleep while watching the movie.

Whoever came in flipped the light on and my eyes burned. I hoped the house wasn’t being broken into, and then I remembered Blade said his brother came home from work very late.

Oh my God. I had an impromptu sleepover at Blade’s house.

“Well, hello.” A tall man with spiky blonde hair who shared Blade’s smile greeted me. Even half asleep, I didn’t miss the look of amusement on his face.

I smiled and mouthed hello. I jerked my head towards Blade, who still slept.

“You must be Callie.”

I nodded.

“My brother’s told me a lot about you,” Dave said too loudly.

I smiled and nodded again. One of us should try to be quiet. Beside me, Blade began to stir.

“Good morning, sleepyhead!” Dave boomed as Blade stretched.

“Hey,” Blade said to me, not quite awake, ignoring his brother. He gave me a quick peck on the forehead. “You fell asleep during the movie. I didn’t want to disturb you. You seemed so tired. So I figured I’d just let you be.”

How sweet. It was the best sleep I’d had all week. “Thanks.” Dave found the leftover pizza and brought a whole box into the living room. He tore right into a piece of sausage, cold. He found the clicker and turned on the TV. We were up for the time being. Both Blade and I sat up on the couch and he reached for a piece himself.

“Callie, here’s your chance. You can have pizza for breakfast.”

“Cold?” Gross.

“You know, you’re kind of a food snob. Pizza is most delicious cold.”

“You’ve never had cold pizza for breakfast?” You’d think we’d just told Dave I’d landed here from Mars.

“Callie grew up in a cult,” Blade explained.

I whacked him.

“Ok, she was raised by hippies.”

“Even worse!” Dave laughed.

I grabbed a slice of the cheese pizza to test his theory. He was right. Cold pizza made an excellent breakfast.

“I think your phone made some noises while you were sleeping,” Blade said.

I grabbed my purse and dug for my phone. There were a couple messages from Janelle, but most of them were from Keisha, who’d gone into panic mode since I hadn’t made it back to the hotel yet. I assured her I was fine and on my way back.

The other was from a number I didn’t recognize.
I really want to see you again.

My jaw dropped. Who else would say that but Tristan?

“Is everything OK?” Blade asked.

“Yeah. Keisha freaked out a little when I missed my curfew.”

He smiled. “Do you want me to bring you back?”

“I guess you should.”

“Alright, let’s do it. Our first official walk of shame.” Blade stretched and finger combed his hair before getting up and grabbing his keys. He loosely wrapped his arm around me as we headed to the car and kissed my hair. “You know, I could get used to waking up with you.”

Chapter Nine

“I can’t believe you didn’t sleep with him!” Keisha exclaimed over the dressing room dividers. We’d decided to spend the day exploring all the designer stores in Caesar’s Palace, and horrifying the staff by actually wanting to try things on.

“Well, I did sleep with him. We just didn’t have sex.” I came out of the dressing room, hanging up my items carefully. This was like Mecca for me. We might be playing around, but I still had respect.

“You need to accelerate things on vacation. The rules are different. Oh, this looks hot.” Keisha came out of her dressing room to reveal a strappy black dress that looked like someone tied her into it.

“It does. How much?”

She looked at the tag. “As much as I make in a month. Damn. Anyway, back to you. You’ve got one more day to complete your conquest.”

I sighed. Just because Keisha moved at the speed of light didn’t mean I had to. “Actually, I heard from Tristan. He wants to see me before I go.”

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” We headed back out to the mall, ignoring the disgusted looks of the staff.

“Yeah. I think it’s good sign he wants to see me.”

“He’s a monster. I’d rather you saw Blade.”

“I did bring my mother on vacation.”

“Your mother wouldn’t be encouraging you to have sex. Anyway, you are the first girl in history to have two hot guys dividing your time on a Vegas vacation and not get any!”

“I’m perfectly happy with how this vacation is going.”

“You have twenty four hours, Callie. I expect results.”

**

“Hey,” I said softly, a bit unsure of myself. Tristan laid on the couch, blankly staring out the window of his living room. He didn’t move or respond at all.

“You wanted me to come?”

He chuckled arrogantly. “Not as much as you wanted to come over.” He sipped his drink and never looked at me.

My heart smashed into a million pieces. I wanted to argue with him, defend myself. But he was right. I had no business coming here. I should know better. Why did he do this to me?

“What do you want, Tristan?” I could barely manage a whisper.

He picked up his head groggily and stared at me with bloodshot eyes. If he had been sober, he wouldn’t have looked so scary. His smile was so exactly the opposite of what I remembered.

His voice went dark, and I fought not to shiver when he said, “I want everything all at once. But from you? I want something more.” Tristan cocked his head to study me, his cold eyes raking up and down my body like I was some sort of lab experiment. I took one step backward, toward the door, and then suddenly he was in front of me, leering at me like a dirty old man.

“I don’t like this.” I couldn’t meet his dark and sinister eyes. Instead I studied his sleeve of tattoos. The images danced together, the sky and heavens peeked from beneath his short sleeve, weaving into Goddesses and stars, bursting into flames around his wrist. It looked the story of his life.

I couldn’t help myself from reaching out and tracing the outline of a mermaid. I prepared myself for the cold, but I didn’t expect the pin hole marks raised against the skin of his arm. Heroin. Even after all of this, he just couldn’t stop himself.

I forced my eyes up to meet his. “I don’t want this. Not for me. Not for you.” My suppressed sobs threatened to strangle me as I looked into his sad, empty eyes. The Tristan I loved didn’t look back at me. I couldn’t even tell if he was still there.

He rolled his eyes and looked away, grinning as always. This was funny? “You want to save me now, Callie?”

“You’re better than this.”

He blinked too long and swayed on his feet. “Is that what you think?” His eyes snapped open and he steadied himself. “How are you going to do that? Something you learned in homeschooling?”

I’d never been so challenged on my family life until I’d come here. I got sick and tired of it in a hurry. “No. Something I learned being a decent human being.”

“You’re going to get on a plane and forget all about me.”

“I won’t forget you.” I didn’t want to fight with him anymore. These wild mood swings of his made it feel like I was talking to someone who needed to be exorcised.

“Well, I know what I think,” he said, getting even closer, making me swoon against my will. “I think you never stop thinking about me. I think you couldn’t stay away from me even if you tried. But I know you won’t try.” Frigid fingers wound their way through my hair.

I wanted to run but I couldn’t. I hated him, because he knew me better than I knew myself.

No. I wanted to shake him, hoping somehow Tristan from my island memories would come back to me. Sadly, I knew that person was dead. I needed to make this less about me and more about him. “Is this how you talk to all those girls who are infatuated with you? That think they have Bloodlust?”

“I don’t talk to those girls.”

I opened my mouth to ask what he did with them, but his ugly smile said it all.

“Why did you invite me here, Tristan?”

“I want to feel real,” he whispered, still not sounding like my Tristan. Unable to hold his eyes open, he swayed under my touch. “You make me feel real.”

He broke my heart. My hands trembled as I reached up and put them on his shoulders. He lifted his head at my touch, and I smiled sadly at his stupor.

“You are real,” It was like comforting a child. I didn’t know what to do with him. “Come, sit down.”

“You always believed in me. You were the only one, you know that? Not even my own family believed in me like you did. And now I disgust you.” He shook his head as he stumbled towards the couch. I did my best to keep him steady.

“No!” I hoped one of us believed it.

He took my face in his hands in a clumsy manner, almost dragging me down with him. “My dear, sweet Callie. You can’t lie to me.”

“God, how did this happen to you?” I choked back tears.

“Don’t worry about me, beautiful.” His words slurred together.

Tristan passed out with his head in my lap as soon as I got him over to the couch. I should have run as far away from that place as I could, but I didn’t. He scared me like this. I’d only had a little taste of this side of him when he’d been back on Martha’s Vineyard.

The addict.

It terrified me then, and even more so now. He was a vampire, nothing could hurt him. Why would he want to stop?

I stroked his silky hair and stared out the window at the lights of the city that was so alive below us. Did vampires actually sleep? I knew he wasn’t breathing, there was no soft fall of his chest, no thump of his heart against me like there had when Blade had slept against me. Tristan might as well have been carved out of stone.

I had a dead person in my lap.

The chill from his body spread to mine and I shivered, but I didn’t move. I didn’t want comfort right now. I wanted to feel every awful moment of this for what it was.

My eyes burned and my muscles ached from exhaustion. I let the tears run down my face. But he was right, I couldn’t stay away. How was I ever going to go home tomorrow?

I couldn’t.

The sky showed hints of brightness. My heart pounded at the possibilities. I didn’t know what would happen if we stayed on the couch like that, exposed, when the sun came up. I’d read plenty of accounts of what happened to vampires in sunlight, but I didn’t know what would actually happen in real life when a vampire came in contact with the sunrise with his head in my lap. Luckily, black out blinds automatically activated and shut out any chance of the sun touching Tristan.

His nights must end this way too often.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when a scruffy looking young man with a walky talky on his belt and a clipboard in hand entered the room. He was startled to see me sitting there.

“How long has he been out?”

“I’m not sure. A while.”

“Miss, you’ve got to go. He will be unpredictable at best when he wakes up, and hungry. I can’t have you here. Unless you’re a —”

“I’m a what?” All I could think of was Amanda telling us how it felt to let a vampire feed from her.

“Never mind. It’s just best that you go. Now. Do you need me to call you a car?”

“Sure.”

Daylight broke over the city and the last of the night’s revelers still wandered around, looking how I felt. Lost in a soft haze.