Dahlia (Blood Crave Series) (22 page)

Greyson.

As soon as she thought his name, he materialized right in front of her. Her heart rate sped up a bit at the sight of him and she had to fight a smile that was itching to form on her face.

“What are you doing here?” He asked this with an interested look across his features. He was wearing a white tank top that displayed well-defined arms and dark jeans. She watched as he ran a hand across his lightly stumbled face, the beginnings of a five o’clock shadow.

Dahlia cleared her throat and chastised herself for ogling him as she ignored his question. Now was not the time to get lost in all that was Greyson. She abruptly asked her own question. “That flash thing you do. Can all fallen angels, the lapsus, do that?” She found it quite difficult to have such a foreign word in her vocabulary but she was trying to use it more readily.

Greyson smiled wryly at her question as he responded, “You’re really going to keep calling it ‘flash?’ I’m not a comic book character, you know.”

“Just answer my question,” she said stubbornly, looking at him with narrowed eyes.

“Flash,” Greyson mumbled under his breath, raising an eyebrow. “I guess I can get used to it. To answer your question, no, not all of the lapsus possess this power. I don’t think you do, or it would have happened already, even spontaneously. It’s just something that Maddox and I happen to share.”

“Oh,” Dahlia felt disappointed by not being able to flash whenever she chose to. Although the sensation of it had made her feel sick to her stomach, it was definitely better than running around everywhere.

“Now answer my question. What are you doing here?” He eyed her warily.

“Can’t I just visit you when I feel like it?” She smiled up at him, hoping he would give it a rest.

“Dahlia, be serious. You should be in school with people around you. You can’t be running out here by yourself every time you feel like it. What did I tell you about staying safe until we know who’s really after you?”

She ignored his lecture as she decided to turn things on him. She narrowed her eyes as she looked him up and down, slowly walking around his body in a circle. After a few turns she stopped directly in front of him and demanded, “Show me.”

Greyson looked intently at her, a small frown forming on his face. Dahlia had to stop herself from grabbing the sides of his mouth and forcing it into a smile so instead she settled on smiling herself.

He finally opened his mouth to speak, his gaze focused on her mouth. “Show you what?” His voice was low and hoarse.

Dahlia moved closer to him, her grin refusing to leave her face. “What you showed me that night in the pool was only a teaser. I want to see you—the real you.”

Confusion came over his face. “What are you talking about?”

“I…searched you.” Dahlia laughed and then started again. “I mean, I searched fallen angels on-line and clicked on a link. It mentioned that all fallen angels bear the mark of the lapsus, just like you said.”

Dahlia paused as she looked up into Greyson’s eyes and locked gazes with him.

“I didn’t see all of it that night. I want to see it all.”

Realization dawned on Greyson, and for the first time since Dahlia has met him, she thought she saw true embarrassment on his face.

He cleared his throat before he spoke. “Do you, now?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” he asked simply.

Dahlia got a serious look on her face as she answered. “Because all this time I thought I was alone or that I was going crazy. I had no idea where these scars came from. I had no idea why I felt the way I felt. And to know that there are people just like me, that you’re just like me,” Dahlia paused as her throat suddenly felt thick with emotion. Tears started to form in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

“I just need to see it fully with my own two eyes and know that this is, in fact, real.”

Silent, Greyson just stood there looking at her in understanding. Then he slowly nodded as he turned away from Dahlia, his back facing her. She tried not to laugh as she overheard him mumbling about how the Internet seemed to have information on just about anything nowadays.

Greyson hooked the bottom of his shirt with his fingers and slowly pulled it over his head as he stood quietly before her, back fully exposed. Dahlia shocked, stared at his perfectly smooth skin that was marred with two jagged scars that ran down diagonally from the outer edges of his shoulder blades and all the way down to end at his lower back.

She couldn’t stop her hands from moving closer to his skin and touching a raised scar, whispered, “You were really born like this?”

“Yes.” Greyson said nothing more and she felt him quiver under her touch, facing away from her.

Dahlia was still in awe as she continued to marvel at the mark that was so similar to her own, her fingers lightly grazing over the rough surface as she ran her hand down his back. “I was born like this.” She said it as more of a statement, but he still answered.

“Yes.”

Dahlia couldn’t hold the tears in any longer as they flowed down both cheeks. Greyson seemed to sense her pain for he immediately turned around and crushed her against his chest. The feeling of his arms wrapped around her caused Dahlia to break down as she began to sob uncontrollably at the emotions that were erupting from within her.

She bore the exact same marks on her back and fully seeing it on someone else’s made her clearly come to the understanding that this was her truth. It made her feel more complete. Dahlia had always felt this certain emptiness in her life and finally belonging with someone, with Greyson, gave her peace of mind.

Dahlia blinked away her remaining tears as she buried her head against his shoulder. She became conscious of how close in proximity she was to him—and the fact that she was clinging onto his naked chest. She withdrew suddenly, feeling self-conscious. She casually ran a finger through her hair as she walked over and took a seat on his couch, looking up at him nervously.

And at his bare chest.

Greyson stood looking down at her then unhurriedly, and without taking his gaze away from her, slipped his tank top back on, a slight smirk on his face. Dahlia’s thoughts quickly went back to the few brief kisses that they shared together as she touched her mouth with her fingertips, remembering the sensation of his lips against hers.

Greyson continued to eye her as his gaze went to her fingers that were on her mouth. Pressing his lips together, he suddenly looked away as he cleared his throat loudly—yet again—shaking Dahlia away from her daydream.

She gave a start then quickly wiped her face, hoping she didn’t look like a complete idiot. She tried to act as if her breakdown never occurred and the obvious tension between the two of them didn’t exist, focusing her mind on the real reason she was there.

Finally discovering who she was.

Chapter 20

“The lapsus has these scars because of what Merrick, Alexander, and the others did, right? Rebelling against God?”

Greyson scratched his forehead then nodded, letting the awkward moment between them pass. “Yes. These scars are a constant reminder to us. It’s a way to never forget where we came from and the fact that we betrayed Him.”

Dahlia puffed up her cheeks then slowly exhaled, frustrated. “But we didn’t do anything, Greyson. It was our ancestors. Merrick.”
My father
. “Why do we have to suffer the burden of what they did?”

“God doesn’t distinguish. No matter what, we share the blood of the ones who betrayed Him. We have to suffer the consequences.” Greyson paused and gave one of his rare smiles, his teeth gleaming bright. “But it’s not all bad.”

Dahlia saw the glitter in his eyes as she asked suspiciously, “What do you mean?”

“Take your ability to heal. There are special quirks that the lapsus possess. We can read minds, play with our element, along with a slew of other abilities. It makes life a little more interesting. On the downside, we have to keep a low profile with the humans because of the energy released from us. It’s too obvious.”

Dahlia thought back to the night in the park when Greyson saved her from suffocating to death in the sandbox, as well as when she witnessed her own eyes glow the night before in her bedroom.

She stated the obvious. “Our eyes. They glow.”

Greyson nodded as he moved closer toward her as she sat on the couch. “That’s right, as well as the marks on our back. It’s where our power originates from.”

Dahlia remembered that touching Greyson’s mark had burned. She hadn’t known that they glowed as well—she had just thought it was the eyes. She wanted to see it happen but didn’t know how to ask. “Tell me more. I want to know everything. The article mentioned Familiars?”

Greyson smiled. “They are our companions. All lapsus have one.”

“Do I?” Dahlia felt hopeful.

“Perhaps,” he said with a shrug. “Although if you had, I would assume it should have made an appearance by now.”

Greyson noticed the look of sadness on her face and felt the need to add. “Take it as a blessing. Although our Familiar can be a strong creature for protection, they can also be our biggest weakness. If they die, we die.”

She tried to bite back her disappointment by her lack of a companion, but got over it quickly. He was right—she couldn’t afford to be vulnerable.

“What about your friend?” Dahlia recalled the large guy with his scary-looking presence and multiple piercings. She failed to remember his name. “What’s his Familiar?”

“Maddox’s?” Greyson continued when he saw Dahlia give a nod. “It’s a hawk, so you never know when he could be listening in while hiding up in the trees somewhere.”

The idea of Maddox’s beady little eyes watching her every move, courtesy of his bird Familiar, gave her the creeps. She recalled the night when Greyson had been so secretive about everything and didn’t want to say much. Looking back on it, he was probably just worried that Maddox would overhear.

“Let me see yours.”

“Gordon isn’t much for company. He tends to be shy.” Greyson smiled as he thought of his Familiar. “I barely see him as it is.”

Dahlia laughed as she sat up straight on the couch, eyebrows raised. “Gordon?”

“Hey,” Greyson said as he stepped closer still, then lowered his body above her. He tugged one of her long locks causing Dahlia to swat his arm away. “It was the only name he would answer to.”

“Okay,” she said with a smile then grabbed his hands while pulling him nearer so he could sit next to her on the sofa. He didn’t resist as he plopped down beside her. Dahlia settled comfortably next to him, tucking her feet under her legs. “What is Gordon?”

“He’s a lynx.”

“A what?”

“Lynx,” Greyson repeated. “It’s a type of wildcat.”

“Of course,” Dahlia murmured to herself. She thought back to when she first saw him and imagined him as a wild jungle cat.

Greyson continued as if he didn’t hear Dahlia. “When interpreted, lynx means light or luminous. It’s referring to their reflective eyes, if you can imagine. Maybe one day he’ll let you see him,” he voiced.

He broke off and stared across at Dahlia. She couldn’t look away as she looked into his eyes, seeing a reflection of herself in his. His eyes immediately glowed, causing Dahlia to look away as she dipped her head down in embarrassment.

“Why do you always do that?” Greyson spoke above Dahlia’s head, criticism in his voice.

Dahlia played with a piece of lint on her thigh as she responded. “Do what?”

He brought a hand under her chin and tilted her head up so they could look directly at one another. Then he reached beside her face and pushed her hair back behind her ear, lightly caressing her cheek. “Look down? Glance away from me? Hide behind your hair?”

“No, I don’t.” Dahlia said the words even though she knew she was lying to herself.

“Stop lying to yourself,” echoed Greyson’s voice.

“Stop reading my mind,” she burst out angrily and she got up aggressively from the couch, her mood changing instantly. She stared heatedly at Greyson as she ranted on, getting defensive. “You have no idea what it feels like to be me. You just sat and watched me all those years ago, feeling like an outcast at the orphanage.”

“Dahlia—”

She wouldn’t let him finish as memories from her past resurfaced. “And yes, I hid. I hid from all the people who looked at me with fear, like some sort of leper. Why didn’t you protect me then?” She looked up at him, tears shining in her eyes.

Dahlia expected an apology from Greyson and was surprised by his bluntness. “I should of. I should have taken you away from all of this. I know what Merrick wants to do is wrong.” He pounded his head. “These memories in my head show me that Merrick isn’t the one on the side of good.”

“Don’t you want to be?”

“Alexander—”

Dahlia shook her head at him, not letting him finish. “Forget your ancestors. Forget this path that you’re supposed to follow. What do
you
want?” She sat there looking at him imploringly as she waited for his answer.

Greyson sat there as he pondered on the question. Before he could answer, he looked up swiftly at the door and was at Dahlia’s side in an instinct as he grabbed her. She suddenly found herself wrapped in his arms in an enclosed space.

They were in a closet.

“What—?” Dahlia tried to speak but Greyson quickly covered her mouth with his index finger to silence her.