Eternal Breath of Darkness (25 page)

Grinning, Haden nodded his
agreement. “He has several flaws, but what kind of a friend would I be if I
used his imperfections as an excuse to discard him? Wouldn’t it be better to
guide him, to show him the error of his ways?” Haden patted the back of
Joseph’s shoulder.
Thanks for acting like an idiot, Joseph. Now you can be
her chew toy. Life will be much easier and safer now that Mia hates you more
than she hates me.
It was difficult, but Haden managed to keep a straight
face.

Mia shrugged casually. “In
most cases, but sometimes it’s better for a person to face the facts and act
accordingly.” Pressing her lips together as if to keep from laughing at the
stunned look on Joseph’s face, she glared up at him. “I always say it’s best to
throw the trash out before it stinks up the entire house.”

That brought Joseph’s
eyebrow up.
Holy shit. She just called me trash.

Haden smiled.
Stinky
trash.

She didn’t mean it. Not
really. She thinks I’m a vampire. Besides, she’s taking morphine.

Haden opened his mouth to
respond to Mia, but Caylee shut him up by jabbing his ribs with her elbow.
“Ouch!” He hunched over and held his side. Looking way too heartbroken for her
to even consider feeling sorry for him, he asked, “What did I do?”

Rather than waste her breath
on a response, Caylee rolled her eyes at him. She couldn’t blame Mia for being
mad. Joseph was acting weird. The way he looked at Mia was downright creepy.
But Caylee wasn’t going to allow Haden to enjoy Joseph’s verbal beating. “Oh
Mia, don’t apologize for needing to leave.” She hugged Mia. “I’m so grateful
you came here with us today.”

“I’ll always be here for
you, honey.” Mia smiled at her. “And don’t forget about tonight. There’s no way
I’m going to let you back out on me. Make sure you get to my place no later
than eight so we have plenty of time to get ready for the party.”

Blushing at the thought of
wearing the very skimpy, super-revealing dress Mia’d made her for at public
event, Caylee nodded. “I’ll be there.”

Mia turned and walked away
quickly. She knew it sounded crazy, but she knew Joseph had somehow entered her
mind and her body. She had no idea how he’d done it, but he’d taken her pain
away. He knew she was dying. She’d seen it in his eyes. He pitied her. The
thought of it made her feel nauseous. She didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for
her. She didn’t want anyone to know she was dying.

Caylee noticed that Joseph
was watching Mia walk away. Actually, she noticed that he was gawking at her
with a goofy grin on his face. She looked up at Haden.
What’s wrong with
him?

Raising his brow, Haden
shrugged.

Mia pulled her hair back and
put her helmet on.

Joseph’s jaw dropped.
“What’s she doing?”

Mia lifted her leg to get
onto the bike.

Frowning, Joseph shook his
head. “No.” In seconds the engine roared to life. “That’s way too much of a
ride for a woman.”

Caylee laughed. “She has
been riding a motorcycle since her teens.”

Joseph was still shaking his
head. “That’s not good.” Clearly, Caylee realized, he wasn’t hearing her. “I
don’t like it at all.”

Mia respectfully, slowly
made her way through the cemetery, but the second she got to the exit she sped
off. “She didn’t even look for traffic.” Mia was out of sight, but the sound of
engine roaring as she shifted through gears echoed loudly. “She’s going way too
fast. She doesn’t belong on that bike.”

Haden chuckled. “I dare you
to tell her that the next time you see her.”

“I will.” Joseph nodded.
Then grinning, he turned to face Haden and Caylee and held a newspaper up.
“Have you read the paper this morning? A local millionaire, Phillip Wicks, has
been charged with tax evasion and money laundering. It’s such a shame. The poor
guy has absolutely nothing of worldly value left to his name. It appears all of
his assets have been seized.”

Caylee snatched the paper
away from Joseph. “I can’t believe it.” Giggling, she started to read it. “Did
you do this, Haden?”

“No.” Pointing at Joseph, he
said, “It’s all his doing.”

Caylee turned to Joseph.
“How did you do it?”

“The less you know the
better,” Joseph teased, but he maintained a very serious, matter-of-fact
expression. He almost looked angry.

Drawing her bottom lip into
her mouth and chewing on it, Caylee frowned. “Oh.” Feeling uncomfortable, she
moved a little closer to Haden. Immediately wrapping his arm around her, Haden
glared at Joseph.

“I’m only kidding.” Smiling,
purposely gentling his expression, Joseph shrugged. “I just rearranged of few
of his assets to expose several of his dirty little secrets. It raised a few
red flags. Uncle Sam did the rest.”

Squealing, she flung her
arms around Joseph neck and kissed his cheek. “You’re absolutely brilliant,
Joseph.” Not wanting to get his ass kicked, Joseph respectfully, looking more
than a little worried, didn’t return the hug or the kiss. Haden quickly moved
forward and wrapped his arm around Caylee’s waist and pulled her to his side
where she belonged.

Leaning against Haden,
Caylee asked, “Will you be coming to the party with us?”

Looking over Caylee’s head
to where Mia had exited the cemetery, Joseph smiled. “I wouldn’t miss it for
anything.” And he wouldn’t. He was eager to see Mia again. “It has been a
little while since I’ve gone out.”

“A little while?” Haden
laughed aloud. “You’ve been playing dead for nearly two years now.”

“Has it been that long?”
Joseph shrugged casually. “I didn’t notice. I guess time flies when you’re
having fun.”

“You’ve been playing dead?”
Caylee asked.

Joseph shrugged. “My wife
and her lover killed me.”

“How sad, but you’re like
Haden, right?”

“It was little depressing.
And yes, I’m like Haden. Since I can’t really die, I decided to play dead until
I could figure out what to do next.”

Haden laughed. “He’s lying.
He has been playing dead so he can haunt them.”

“If people recognize you it
will be over. Aren’t you just a little worried that if you go to the party
someone will recognize you tonight?” Caylee asked.

“Not at all,” Joseph said.
“I have the ability to control my appearance.”

“What do you mean?”

“Our kind has the ability to
take the form of just about anything or anyone at any time,” Joseph explained.

“I can understand how
playing dead would be fun, but the thought of taking another form is just a
little bit freaky.” She smiled. “I’m still struggling to grasp the dragon
thingy.” She looked up at Haden. “If you ever take the form of a woman, we’re
done.”

“There’s no reason to worry
about that.” Haden shook his head. “I don’t think playing dead would be fun at
all.”

Caylee giggled. “I don’t
know. His wife and her lover tried to kill him. They believe they succeeded. I
think haunting them is very funny. When I die, I plan to haunt you.”

Clearly irritated, Haden
frowned. “Don’t say that.”

“Why?” She smiled up at him.
“Are you afraid of ghosts?”

“It’s not funny, Caylee.”
Haden took a deep breath and released it with a growl.

“Are you seriously growling
at me? Don’t do it again, Haden. It’s so unattractive.”

While Haden and Caylee
argued, Joseph took out his phone and got onto Facebook. He searched for Mia
and found her right away. He read her profile and checked out her pictures and
then, unable to resist the urge, he requested a friendship with her and poked
her. Was the poke immature? Absolutely. But he just couldn’t resist the
temptation of doing it. Just the thought of how mad she would be caused him to
smile. He put the phone in his pocket and then interrupted their argument. “So
Haden, do you still plan to go out and talk to Nikolas today?”

“Yes.” Haden turned to face
him. “He has always been the closest to Demetri. There’s a chance that he knows
more about what is going on. We need more information, and we need it now.”

“Sounds like a plan. Zack
will follow you to make sure Paul doesn’t get too close to you. I’m going to
follow Mia to make sure Paul doesn’t follow her.” Joseph smiled. “Enjoy your
day.” He certainly planned to enjoy the day. “I’ll see you later tonight.”
Turning to walk away, he dissolved into a mist.

Caylee took Haden’s hand and
looked up at him. “Do you believe Mia is in danger? I mean, do you think Paul
plans to go after her?”

Haden shrugged casually.
“It’s possible, but I doubt it. I think Joseph is following Mia because he
takes pleasure in her company.”

“Oh no. I sure hope not. Mia
didn’t seem to like him at all.” She paused. “Maybe you should warn him to
leave her alone. She definitely won’t like him following her around.”

“I would be wasting my
breath. He knows she doesn’t like him, little love.” He wrapped his arm around
her to lead her toward the car. “He’s not accustomed to being so quickly and
entirely rejected by a woman. Tragically, in a twisted sort of way, he liked
being cast off by her.”

“Why? That’s just sick. He
has serious issues. Well then, if he bugs her too much, I guess he’ll get what
he deserves. I won’t feel bad at all when she puts him in his place.”

There was a subtle shift in
the atmosphere. Haden stopped right next to the car and opened the door for
Caylee. Studying the disturbance, he glanced all around. He knew that Paul was
deeply enraged. He wanted to snatch Caylee, but he didn’t dare. Not yet
anyways. The vampire was using ancient spells to prevent Zack from finding him.
The vampire was way too sure of himself. He knew Paul would’ve attempted to
attack and snatch Caylee if Zack wasn’t nearby, ready to intervene.

Settling in her seat, Caylee
looked up at Haden. “We’re actually going to drive?”

“Yes.” He smiled at her.
“It’s a short drive to my brother’s place.”

“Are you going to tell me
where it is yet?”

“No. It’s a surprise, little
love.” He leaned down to kiss her, and then he shut her door and walked over to
the other side and got in.

“What did Joseph see when he
was holding Mia’s hand?” Caylee asked. “And don’t you dare try to tell me he
didn’t see anything. I saw look on his face. He was shocked. Maybe even a bit
worried about something.”

Haden took a deep breath and
sighed. “Mia has been keeping something very serious from you.” He paused. He
was hoping to wait to tell her until he was certain Joseph could heal her. “I
suspect that she’s kept it from everyone.”

“What?”

“She has bone cancer,
Caylee.” He turned his head to look at her. “It’s very serious. She’s dying.”

“No. It isn’t possible.
Joseph is wrong,” Caylee said. “She doesn’t have cancer. She isn’t dying.”

“He isn’t wrong.” Mia’s
illness was a terrifying reminder of Caylee's frailty. She was still mortal,
and danger was all around. Haden was failing her. Where the hell was his
courage, his confidence? Why did the method of transforming her need to be so
frightening, so brutal? “Joseph is already attempting to heal her, little
love.” Haden paused. “It’s why he’s following her right now. We hid her
presence today. There was no way Paul or any other vampire could’ve known that
she was with us.”

“He lied?” Caylee whispered,
sounding hurt and confused.

“He’s a demon, Caylee.”
Haden’s voice was a low, threatening growl. He couldn’t hide the fact he was
jealous. Believing her pain and confusion was caused by her faith in Joseph, he
was irritated.

Caylee leaned back in the
seat and closed her eyes. “I can’t believe she’s dying.”

There was such deep sadness
and pain in her voice it actually caused him to feel physical pain in his
heart. He was a selfish idiot. Thankfully she hadn’t heard the jealously in his
voice, Haden placed his palm on her thigh to impart peaceful, healing energy
into her.

“She’s such a good friend,
Haden.” She knew that by touching her leg he was trying to comfort her. She was
thankful but felt guilty because it was working. How could she feel better when
Mia was dying? “What if Mia makes Joseph so mad she pushes him away?”

“It won’t happen.” He smiled
at her. “Joseph is a very stubborn man. The meaner she is to him the bigger the
smile he’ll be sporting. I know that he’ll do everything possible to help her.
We will all help her. We won’t give up.”

“What if it’s too late?”

“It’s never too late, little
love.”

 “I should’ve noticed.”
The catch in her voice broke his heart. He knew she felt as if she’d failed
Mia. “I don’t understand. She’s my best friend. Why didn’t I notice, Haden?”
She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. “Why did she hide it from me?”

“She loves you. She didn’t want
you to know about it. She didn’t want you to worry. She’s an extremely strong,
stubborn woman. She was determined to hide it from everyone.”