Immortal After All (Vampire Hunter Book 3) (9 page)

“Let me just hold you.” He lied down on the couch, pulling me down in front of him. He wrapped his strong arms around my waist.

Of course, it was nice – okay, more than
nice
– having Lucas’ arm around me, snuggling me close so that my back was flush against his chest. But because I was facing away from him, I couldn’t look at him, couldn’t try to understand what he was thinking. So many times he would say next to nothing and I’d have to study his face and fill in the gaps.

His head was buried in my hair. I could feel his chest rising and falling, pushing mine outward, almost giving the sensation that I was breathing too. I didn’t think that Lucas had gone to sleep, but he wasn’t speaking. And I wasn’t sure if he would again.

Surely this insane attraction I had for Lucas wasn’t completely one-sided. I knew he wouldn’t say and do the things he did if he didn’t like me.

But whenever we started kissing, why did he always cut it off? What was he scared of? Our age difference? His vast experience with women vs. my biggest experience with a boy – the time when Barry Adamson almost got to third base before I practically twisted his hand off?

I wasn’t stupid. Lucas hadn’t stayed a virgin for a gazillion years, just holding out for the right girl who happened to be. But I wasn’t even trying to sleep with him! I just wanted to kiss him, to have him hold me, maybe at the same time for a change!

I tried to relax and enjoy the moment. Which unfortunately, really was going to only be a moment. I could feel my phone vibrating in my pocket about every three seconds. I may have already pushed my mom too far the other day; she’d probably ground me the instant I walked through the door.

But if that was the case…

Maybe staying with Lucas tonight – or at least for another couple of hours – wouldn’t make the punishment
too
much worse.

Lucas readjusted his arm around my waist and nuzzled his head farther into my hair, which had to still be damp from the rain.

“Do you like the smell of my new shampoo?” I asked jokingly. “It’s called
l’essence de rain
.”

“Ha, I hadn’t noticed. I just like being close to you,” he said.

I squirmed off my side and onto my back so I could look at Lucas. The two of us barely fit on the couch. Actually, now that I’d repositioned myself my left butt cheek was hanging
off
the couch.
Someone so tall really should invest in bigger furniture!

Lucas propped his head up on his elbow and looked down at me. “Yes, Rory?” he said it in a way that implied he already knew what I was going to ask.

“How come you don’t like kissing me?” I tried again. We had played this strange romantic game for long enough now. I wanted to know where I stood.

“Somehow I thought you weren’t going to let that drop,” Lucas said wryly. “Do you really believe that I don’t like kissing you?”

“No.” I was really nervous now. It was more embarrassing to have this conversation than I’d anticipated.

“Then what?” Lucas had a half smile on his face. Seeing him staring down at me like that, totally focused on
me
, I was completely flustered.

“I don’t know what,” I sputtered. “It, uh, just feels like you always want to stop things.” I looked down at my fingernails, avoiding his gaze.

“I just think that you deserve better than what I could offer,” Lucas said seriously. “And I don’t want to hurt you. And truthfully, you seem so defensive about being young. There’s nothing wrong with being young, I just know the inexperience that goes with your age.”

I groaned. “So you won’t kiss me because it might go too far and you know I haven’t, uh, been around the block before?”

Now Lucas looked uncomfortable.

“What?” I prompted.

He sighed. “It’s not
just
that. When vampires get emotional about something – whether it’s anger, lust, fear, sadness, for example – it’s difficult to control the vampire teeth. And when you can’t stop the teeth from coming out, it’s a slippery slope. You kind of lose control of everything else, including the ability to make rational decisions.”

“It’s part of why I was such a hothead when I was first turned,” Lucas continued. “I got into these huge fights with other vampires, other creatures, you name it; but at that point, I didn’t
care
if I was in control. It was more fun not to be, not know what was going to happen next. A thrill.”

“I learned to hone this, uh, personality flaw,” he explained. “But it’s always there, always something I struggle to control. And I wouldn’t want to hurt you or make you feel pressured about anything.”

So if Lucas gets too hot and heavy his vampire teeth are going to make an appearance and then what? He’ll push me to have sex with him? Would that really be such a bad thing?

I could see where Lucas was coming from though; I wasn’t even technically an adult for another year. There were things he couldn’t risk.

“And, Aurora.” Lucas was still looking at me. He paused, and when he spoke again his voice was almost barely above a whisper. “You really do deserve better. And it’s not just you that I’m worried about hurting – I don’t want to get hurt, either, when you do make your choice.”

I knew he was talking about Henry but I played dumb, which I’m sure he could see right through. “I’m not going to choose the evil side, so don’t worry that you’ll be compelled to hunt me,” I told him with a forced smile.

“That’s not what-“ he started, but I jumped off the couch.

“My mom is going to be worried about me,” I cut in.

“Yes, give her my apologies for keeping you out so late,” Lucas replied. “I’m driving you home, though, in case the twins are still lurking around.”

“No,” I tried to protest. “It’s about two miles but I’ll run it. You know how fast I go.”

“Rory, this is non-negotiable,” Lucas said in a mock stern voice.

He was grinning at me. Impulsively, I leaned up and kissed him – on the cheek. “Is that too much for you to handle?” I teased.

“No, and neither is this,” he said huskily. He leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips. It wasn’t the feverish kiss that I had initiated earlier, but it was pretty damn hot. I responded and we stood there kissing for what seemed like ages. Finally, Lucas pulled away. He looked flustered.

“I didn’t really mean to do that,” he said.

“I didn’t mind,” I assured him. “We could practice lots.” I grinned. “Maybe you can condition yourself? You know, like when you’re allergic to something and they give you it in small quantities until it doesn’t affect you anymore?”

Lucas laughed. “That’s a nice thought, Rory, but I’m not quite sure that the more I kiss you the less it will make my vampire tendencies come out.”

I felt disappointed. I had only been
half
kidding. It sounded like a fun experiment, though.

Seeing my face, Lucas smiled. “Stop worrying. This really is the least of our worries. Remember what I was saying about fate? If it’s meant to be, we’ll figure it out.”

Meaning if I’m meant to be with you, not Henry.

The next week was uneventful. My mom had grounded me from going out for five days because I hadn’t answered her phone calls
again.
But I had expected that, and really kind of deserved it, so I wasn’t upset. She wasn’t particularly thrilled that I turned up in a man’s t-shirt either, but I just said I’d gotten caught in the downpour and Lucas let me borrow his shirt.

It was for the better that I couldn’t be tempted to go
out. I had to spend most of my days studying like mad if I was going to pass the test.

I didn’t talk much with Henry, except for a few texts here or there to see how each other was doing. He was using his last days of summer to practice basketball and get in the best shape of his life; soon our days would be filled with teachers, classes and studying.

As for Lucas, I hadn’t heard from him. This time, though, I wasn’t worried; I knew he hadn’t disappeared, that he wouldn’t do that to me
again
. I’d told him about the test and he’d said he would only contact me if he had any news.

No more blackouts, and no word from Emmett, so hopefully that meant there wasn’t an upcoming meeting scheduled with Tobias…for now.

I had tried to push everything out of my head, and found that for the first time since I became undead I had actually been able to have moments where I forgot about the Henry/Lucas triangle and what I was fated to do. I guess maybe it did help to have something to focus on.

Saturday morning of the test I was a bundle of nerves, even though I felt decently well prepared. As I slid into a desk at my old school, I had the fleeting thought that after next week, this would be my life again for eight months. There were only three other kids taking the test.
Maybe they all climbed out of a grave, too,
I thought wryly.

Before, when I was living, I used to dread having to take tests at school. Not because I wasn’t smart or had anxiety about failing; no, inevitably, as soon as the teacher passed out the test and the room went quiet, my stomach would start growling. And not those faint gurgles that only the person next to you can hear. I’m talking full out roars. It was so embarrassing.

Once, this creep Johnny Melvin started snickering when it happened. Henry had shoved a pen in his back and told him to shut up. I smiled at the memory.

At least I won’t have that to worry about!

The test was timed – two hours – and it flew by. I thought I might have a few minutes to spare to go back over my answers, but I had just started my review when the teacher told everyone to put down their pencils.

As a habit, I wiped my palms down the front of my shorts, but of course there was no sweat. Okay, so my life wasn’t enviable, but there were at least a
few
perks of being a zombie.

I grabbed my purse and headed out to the parking lot, where my mom was waiting to pick me up. “How did it go, honey?” she asked as soon as I slid into the passenger seat.

“I think I passed,” I answered honestly. “But I can’t believe I won’t get the results until Wednesday! School starts the following Monday.”

“Don’t worry; I’m sure you did fine,” my mom assured me. “Is Lucas starting as a senior at your school?”

Lucas in school! I stifled a laugh. “No,” I said in as serious of a tone as possible. “He lives too far away.”

“Do you think you’ll be seeing much of him then?” my mom pressed.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly, looking out the window. Everything would be different once I was back in school. And Lucas had made it clear that he wasn’t rushing into anything with me. But I would be seeing Henry almost all day, five days a week, if I started back as a senior. I perked up at the thought.

Same story, different day. I still didn’t know what I
really
wanted. I wasn’t sure that I ever truly would.

I had been hoping since I was no longer grounded Henry would want to hang out later that day, but when I called him to ask him he didn’t answer his phone.
I guess this is what it feels like.
I guiltily remembered how I had avoided him the day I was out with Lucas looking at apartments.

I was surprised when I didn’t hear from Henry until later that night, and even then it was just a text message.
I’ll call you tomorrow. Some stuff came up today.

What did that mean? Henry was usually candid with me. If he had been playing b-ball or something, why in the hell wouldn’t he just say so?

Annoyed by his message (and deciding I wasn’t going to even bother replying), I picked up my phone to call Lucas. But he didn’t answer either.

“Ugh!” I flopped down on my bed in annoyance.
Now what?
I had isolated myself so much from everyone that I literally had no other friends. In the past, I could have asked Kayla to hang out with me, but she was still (supposedly) spending most nights at Gina’s house, and she’d probably laugh in my face if I tried to tag along with them. Not that I really even wanted to.

I settled down for a boring, uneventful night.

I was lying on my bed with my eyes closed. I didn’t sleep, but I had figured out how to zone out, for lack of a better term. The hours, which had at first painfully ticked by with me acutely aware of each passing second, had become more bearable. When I was able to successfully zone out – aka clear my head – and just lie there with my eyes closed, the time went by much faster.

When I first heard the sound of something scratching against my window, I thought it must be the wind pushing a branch. That used to scare the hell out of me when I was kid. So many times I’d run to my parents room and insist they come check out the noise.

Like clockwork, my dad would find that the branch was hitting the window again. The next day, he would dutifully get the ladder out to trim the tree, but once it grew back the same thing would happen again.

So I didn’t think about the sound much once I became a teenager and understood that there weren’t creatures lurking outside my window, ready to pounce. Maybe I should have been nervous, now that I knew that there
were
creatures – hell, I was one of them – but I chose to ignore the sound.

As it became more incessant, I finally decided I should check it out. I didn’t hear the wind whipping outside, so the tree shouldn’t have been bashing against my window so many times.

I tentatively pulled my curtain open a fraction of an inch and peeped out. There was someone outside! The person was reaching down – to find another pebble – I assumed. I squinted, trying to make out the figure.
Why didn’t I get cool night vision when I came back?
I thought with irritation.

It wasn’t until the person looked up and I could make out his face that I realized it was Henry. Seeing the gap in the curtain, he started waving frantically.

I quickly opened the curtains and pulled the window up. “Henry!” I exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you!” he replied in a low voice.

“Why didn’t you call?” I hissed back.

“I-I just need to talk to you! Can you please come down?”

“Okay,” I said reluctantly. I shut the window and tiptoed downstairs, hoping my parents wouldn’t hear me walking or hear me turn off the alarm.

When I got outside, Henry was standing by the door. “What is so important that you came to wake me up in the middle of the night? It’s like that first night I was back!”

Henry looked at my blankly.

“When I was throwing rocks at the window to get your attention.” Something was wrong. Henry wouldn’t have forgotten that.

“Oh, that – yeah,” he finally said.

“And what did that text mean about having stuff to do?” I continued, my hands on my hips. I was more annoyed than I’d meant to be; I had planned not to even ask him – what right did I have, with all the secrets I was keeping from
him
? But once I had seen him again, I couldn’t stop myself.

Henry ignored my question. “I wanted to make sure that you were okay,” he said. “Have you heard from Emmett?”

“No, why would I? I wouldn’t know how to get in touch with him if I wanted to.” I laughed nervously. Henry had no idea that Emmett had slipped me his phone number. Why was he asking such a weird question?

“Just making sure you didn’t have any information,” Henry said. “And that you were okay,” he added.

“Henry, what’s gotten into you? Unless you gave him my number, Emmett doesn’t have it,” I fibbed. “You know that. Did you hear from him?”

“No, not yet.” He shook his head. “Well, sorry I woke you. I’m glad you’re okay.”

“You came here in the middle of the night to ask about Emmett and how I’m doing?” I was confused.

“Yes.”

I leaned in closer and studied Henry’s face. He looked normal – I guess, and he didn’t sound like he had been drinking or anything.

“Alright,” I finally said. “I won’t say you haven’t thoroughly freaked me out, but okay.”

I turned to go back in the house and then stopped. “Oh, you didn’t even ask about the test today.” I couldn’t keep the hurt out of my voice.

“Sorry, Aurora, I forgot,” Henry said.

How could he forget?
“Um, okay, well I think I passed, if you even care.” Before he could answer I went back into the house. I had the urge to slam the door as hard as possible in his face, but I resisted. I didn’t want to wake my parents.

I wasn’t sure what Henry was up to, but I was going to find out.