In the Dark by Lila Rose (8 page)

Caelen laughed. "Come on, Isaac, don't get jealous on me. I already told you she asked how Jezanna was doing."

Isaac jealous?

No way in hell.

Protective, yes, jealous, no.

"I still don't believe that's all, Caelen."

"Look, it wasn't anything important. Besides, if I told you, she'd kill me herself. She's awake by the way."

"How do you know
that
?" Isaac bit out.

"Wouldn't have the foggiest. My guess would be because of the connection
she
made."

I heard the door to the room open. I pried my tired eyes apart. The glare from the light in the other room made my stomach roll and sent a stabbing pain to my temples. I shielded my eyes with my paw.

"Jeremiah, turn off the light," Isaac ordered sharply.

How wrong did I have it? I thought Jeremiah was the one in charge when it was obvious it was Isaac.

"Jezanna, I didn't realise you were in here," Isaac said with his soft tone.

"I didn't want Leila to be alone when she woke."

"That's very nice of you." He smiled and knelt in front of us. His eyes moved to me. I stared back. "Leila, how are you feeling?"

My mind reached out to his, only I didn't get far. A sharp pain shot throughout me, causing my body to quiver. It was too much, too soon. My mind wasn't up for anything.

Instead, I extended out to the one connection I already had. That way I wouldn't cause any more harm to myself.
Caelen, tell him I'm okay.

"You don't seem to be okay, love."

Isaac spun his head to face Caelen, who was standing just inside the doorway beside Jeremiah.

"See there, love. You're gonna get me in trouble here."

I let my laugh echo through his mind.
I doubt that. Tell him I'm not able to make contact with anyone else at the moment. I still feel—

"She's told me the reason she ain't in your head at the moment is because she still feels like crap. So she can't connect with you when she isn't at her fullest."

Thank you, for that, and for coming back.

"Don't fret, pet, I couldn't leave a honey like you behind," he teased. Isaac hissed.

Why does he do that?

Caelen laughed. "Lad, she wants to know why you do that."

Isaac turned back to face me. He rested his head on his crossed arms, which lay flat on the bed. Then he reached a hand out to run one finger down my nose to the side of my mouth.

"I don't like him speaking to you as he did, that's all."

Both Caelen and Jezanna scoffed, which caused them to smile at one another.

"Leila, can you answer a question for me?"

I gave a small nod, only it left me regretting doing it because the movement sent more dizziness my way.

"Why did you come here today?"

Caelen relayed everything I wanted to say.
You didn't come to get me on the weekend. I thought… When you didn't show up at school, I knew something was wrong. So I found Caelen, and he brought me here.

"But Caelen warned you there was danger. Why would you still come inside? Why risk your life for us?" Jeremiah demanded.

Nothing changes the fact you all needed help. I knew I was the only one around who could.

Caelen quickly translated.

"You're a very foolish girl. I was unable to catch Mervin. More will come for us, and now he knows about you. You're at risk," Jeremiah snapped.

I may be foolish, but at least I saved your arse.

Caelen chuckled and repeated what I had said. Jeremiah let out a growl and left the room.

Isaac seemed amused, a smile curving his lips, but it faded before he said, "At least I know you're not scared of us… I think."

I would never be scared of you, Isaac.
I wanted to say more, but not while I was in my other form. I wanted to talk to him.
Caelen, I'm sorry, but can you carry me to a bathroom? I need to shift back, and it's not something to do in front of people.

The pain I went through with every change was excruciating, and I didn't want them to witness it. At least I was used to it, but it was hard for someone else to watch. Also, there was the fact I'd be naked. As well as the way I felt, there was a chance I could pass out or vomit. Really, none of it was a pretty sight.

"Of course, love." He glided over to the bed and leaned down to pick me up, until Isaac's hand clamped down on his arm.

"What are you doing?" Isaac growled.

"She wants to go to the bathroom to shift back."

"
I
will carry her." Isaac swiftly stood with me in his arms and took me to the door on the right. He opened it to reveal a huge bathroom. Big enough to have a party in. There was a twin shower, a double spa bath and a twin vanity sink. All of them were sparkling white.

He lay me gently on the tiled floor and sat beside me.

Is he expecting me to change back in front of him? No way is there a chance of that!

Isaac Grey was not seeing me naked.

Well, not under those circumstances.

Shut it, hussy brain.

"Ah, mate. I think she wants to do it alone."

"I won't leave your side, Leila. I saw the pain you went through to change so quickly before, and I know this will hurt you just as much. So I'll be here for you."

"Brother, you can't stay," Jezanna said from the door. "I doubt Leila is worried about the pain. I think she's more worried about you seeing her after she changes."

"Why? Doesn't she want to speak with me?" Isaac looked to Caelen for an answer. But it was Jeremiah who came back and supplied what everyone else knew.

"Isaac, she'll be naked in her human form." Once he stated the fact, he left again.

Isaac faced away, but I could still see the blush running down his neck.
"Oh," he whispered.

"Isaac," Jezanna started. "We'll wait in the other room. I'll go and get Leila something to wear, and you can ring Dad to tell him we're all fine."

"Yes. Yes, good idea." He quickly stood and left without looking back. Jezanna closed the door after him, leaving me to shift back on my own. When I welcomed the pain, my body started to alter.

The transformation left me utterly exhausted. I wasn't used to changing so fast in the first place and then altering back in such a short amount of time.

Curled up in a ball on the tiled floor, I shivered. I wanted to move, to go to the toilet and throw up, hoping it would help me feel better. Then it hit me, the other reason I wasn't coping. The vampire blood. It was still working its way out of my system.

The thought of it, of the foul taste it had left, made me move. I crawled my way to the toilet just in time for it to come up.

There was a knock at the door and Isaac's concerned voice called out, "Leila, are you okay? Sorry, silly of me to ask. I know you're not, but do you need help?"

As nice as it was for him to ask, I couldn't answer. Still, I managed a moan between heaves and prayed he didn't take it as an affirmative for him come in. If he did, it'd embarrass the hell out of me because I was naked
and
bent over a toilet in his house, puking my guts up.

"Move aside, brother," I heard Jezanna say.

The door opened and Jezanna squeezed her way in through a small gap. I didn't mind her coming in; at least she was a girl and thoughtful enough to have brought a large black blanket, which she wrapped around my shaking body.

She knelt beside me and gently rubbed my back as I waited for the dry-heaving to subside. I swore to myself I would never take vampire blood into my mouth again, and I would never shift so quickly. Well, until the next situation arose, and I had a feeling being around Isaac and his family, one could come up at any time.

Finally, the heaving stopped. I flushed the toilet and crouched over it, trying to gain control of my heavy breathing.

"Thank you," Jezanna said.

My laugh was unexpected. "For what?" I asked. "Throwing up in your toilet?"

She giggled. "No, besides, it's not my bathroom. It's Isaac's. That was his bedroom and bed you were on."

I groaned.
Great, just what I needed to think about.

"I wanted to say thank you for not turning your back on us and running a mile when you found out what we are."

Grabbing some toilet paper, I wiped my face and then sat back, securing the blanket around my still quivering, weak body.

"I knew Isaac was different when he first came to the school. I just didn't know how." I shrugged. "Now I do know, I honestly don't care. I mean look at me, and still,
he
chose me to be his friend. I won't turn my back on him and his family."

She smiled widely. "You like him, don't you?"

"Of course, it's why we're friends."

"No, you know…" Her voice trailed off because of the glare I gave her. I shook my head and inclined it towards the door.

"Oh. Isaac," she called.

We both heard a deep sigh, and two others laughed.

"Yes?" he answered.

"Busted." Caelen chuckled.

Jezanna rolled her eyes and then leaned in to whisper, "We will discuss these things later."

Truthfully, I would've preferred not to speak of it at all. I wasn't used to feeling the way I was about Isaac, or anyone for that matter. It still scared me.

He could leave like the others had.

"I've placed some clothes for you on the basket beside the door for after your shower. I have to apologize though, because I don't think they'll fit you right." She paused to study me. "Do you think you'll be okay on your own, or would you like some help?"

Climbing slowly to my feet, to prove I could manage on my own, I smiled. I felt terrible. My legs shook, my stomach churned, my skin pulled around the healed wound and my head thumped at my temples. I'd never received someone's help in the shower before, and I wasn't about to start.

"All right, if you're not out in half an hour, I'll be coming back in to check on you."

"You might want to give me an hour. I'm going to be taking my time in here, ease some of these pains and aches."

She nodded once, gave me a quick hug and whispered, "You would be good for my brother." Before I could say anything, she left.

Stunned, I just stood there for a while. It was nice of her to say so, but I highly doubted Isaac would ever consider me that way. He saw me as a friend, someone he would protect, nothing else. And I couldn't let myself think any different.

The first thing I did was to check my side for the knife injury.
What the hell?
There wasn't any sign of it. How was that possible? Even after the time my mom hit me in the head, I woke up with a bruise. There should have been a small healing cut at least. But nothing?

Unless, the vampire blood combined with my own could have had some play in my quicker than usual healing? It was definitely a fact to consider.

After some time in the shower, I got out and dried myself, thanking the almighty above the shower had helped relieve some tension. Now, all I had to do was eat something and hope it would help settle my stomach after vomiting the contents of it. I needed to eat regularly; my metabolism burned a lot quicker than any normal human's, mainly because of being part cat. Apparently, they liked to graze all day, something I had inherited.

I looked down at the clothes Jezanna brought in and knew, just with a look, they were going to be a tight fit. Once I dressed, I surveyed myself in the mirror. Snorting out a laugh, I gazed at the words on the closely fit pink tee, 'I love vamps.' Was she trying to be funny? To go with the tee, I had on a tight pair of black pants. Neither of them I would have bought myself. I liked things baggy. Though, there was nothing I could do about it right then, no matter how self-conscious I felt.

Drying my hair one more time, I chucked the towel in the basket beside the door.

Opening the door, I looked out into Isaac's bedroom. The light was on in the empty room. I took some time looking around. Isaac's bed sat under a huge window. And that was really about it for his bedroom. He didn't even have a desk, so there was nothing for me to snoop in, damn it.

I peeked out his bedroom door and heard voices coming from the room across the hallway and down a little. Taking those few steps, I walked into a kitchen and realised, straight away, it was a different kitchen. How many rooms did the place have?

Of course, the conversation stopped once I entered, so I said, "Don't stop on my account." I smiled, tugging at the tee and looking at each of them sitting at the table. Isaac sat at the end of a twelve-seated, wooden table, his own gaze moved over me, smiling slightly at the words written over my boobs.
Shit, can they hear my heart rate pick up from that one small smile?
Wasn't that what the books said about vampires, super hearing, like myself?

Somehow, I'd have to try to control my reactions to Isaac.

To his right was a grumpy-looking Jeremiah. Jezanna was next to him, and Caelen sat opposite them. Another person, who I hadn't met, sat at the other end of the table. He was an older man, possibly in his late fifties, with thick, short grey hair, warm light brown eyes, slim and tall from what I could tell from his sitting form. He came across as a nice, friendly man, from the smile he directed at me. He also didn't flinch when he looked into my eyes for the first time, and for that reason alone, I knew we would get along.

"Hi, I'm Leila." I held out my hand for him to shake. He looked down the table to Isaac and back to me with humour in his eyes.

He took my hand, shook it, then said, "So nice to meet you, Leila. I'm Gregory, Isaac's father." He grinned. "I have a lot to thank you for," he added.

Snorting, I said, "Don't mention it. All in a day's work." I cringed inwardly. Okay, that was lame. Caelen and Jezanna covered their mouths to hide their soft laughter. I quickly took a seat next to Caelen and glanced around the kitchen for any signs of food. It was in that moment my stomach spoke up and Jezanna jumped up from the table, walked over to the fridge and came back with a plate full of sandwiches. I couldn't help but lick my lips, which caused another round of laughter.