Jude Stephens (4 page)

He didn’t look away this time. He stared deep into
my eyes and said, “I didn’t plan it. I wasn’t looking to start
something with you.” He ran an agitated hand through his long dark
hair. “You were so sweet and so innocent. And I just wanted a
taste. Then your Sensay nature took over and you were so hot, and I
wanted to find out what it would be like,” he finished and looked
away with shame in his eyes.

I stepped back, not wanting him to
see the agony his words caused me. “Well, thank you for finally
being honest, Roberto.” I gave a short brittle laugh. “It’s kind of
funny you know? In the back of my mind I think I always knew it was
my Sensay blood that drew you and Alex to me.”

Roberto grabbed my arm but quickly dropped it when
Bullet growled.

“
Olivia, it may have started that
way but somewhere, somehow, I did fall in love with
you.”

It had to be said, “And what about Annika? Are the
three of us going to all live together happily ever after?”

His eyes became hard “Leave Annika out of this!”

I heard a few indrawn breaths at
his defense of his bonded right in front of me, but it made my next
words all that much easier. “No, let’s leave Annika in it. I’m the
one stepping out of this little threesome. From this day forth you
are nothing to me.” I reached behind my neck and unclasped the
latch on the bloodstone necklace Roberto gave me. I walked over and
dropped it in front of him. “No payment necessary for services
rendered, Mr. Valente.”

With my head held high I turned, went into the house
and up the stairs. I went into the bedroom I shared with Roberto
for the last few months and looked around. There was nothing here
that belonged to me. Everything I had was paid for by Roberto. I
wanted nothing from that man. I stood up to leave and remembered
the only thing that belonged to me.

I went over to the nightstand and picked up a framed
picture of me, my mom and my dad on the day I graduated. It was the
only thing I could take the day my parents were murdered by The
Guardians, and I was forced to flee. I was fleeing again, this time
with no one to help me and with no way to support myself. The
future looked a little frightening, but in a strange way I looked
forward to it. It was like a fresh beginning, a clean canvas that
was all mine to paint.

I walked out of the bedroom, where
I had spent so many nights in exquisite pleasure, without a
backward glance. When I stepped out onto the porch there was no
sign of Roberto. Janel stood up and wrapped her arms around
me.

We stood like that for several minutes until I
finally pulled away. “You can come with me if you like. I’m not
sure where I’m exactly headed but you are more than welcome.”

Janel stepped back. “No, this is your adventure, but
you know that if you need me I will be by your side in the blink of
an eye.”

“
What will you do?” I asked her
with concern. It was because of me and this mess with The Guardians
that she couldn’t go home again.

She laughed and poked me, “You
know better than to worry about me. I’m going back down to Cat
Island for awhile. Andy’s going to join me when he can. I really
want to study The Evolved. Maybe I can continue with my medical
career but at a whole new level. I can learn a lot about this
evolution process.”

I gave her a genuine smile. She
was at her best when she thought she could help someone. Most
people didn’t give her the credit she was due. They looked at her
and saw her beautiful face and her great body and dismissed her as
a dumb blond.

“
I’m happy for you Janel. You seem
really excited about this. This is the kind of stuff you love. You
can do a lot of good with your studies.”

Janel smiled back, but her smile faltered. “I just
wish things turned out differently for you.”

“
Now it’s my turn to say, don’t
worry about me. I’m going to be okay. It’s hard to explain, but I
now know what everyone’s been saying about my destiny. I can feel
it now and I have a sense of urgency to begin my training. I think
that’s why Bullet came to me, to guide me there.” I gave a little
chuckle. “I hope you don’t think I’m crazy but there it
is.”

She shook her head. “After the
things we’ve seen these last few months, I know you’re not
crazy.”

Just then Antonio and Bullet came around from the
back of the house.

Janel eyed Bullet suspiciously. “I take that back,
you may be crazy for running around with a giant wolf. Did you feed
him Antonio? He still looks hungry.”

Antonio laughed. “Yeah, he ate, five pounds of
hamburger and a package of hot dogs.”

Now I eyed Bullet suspiciously, “You better not get
sick on me while we’re on the road.”

Janel looked at me with concern. “Speaking of which,
how are you going to travel?”

I shrugged. “I guess we’ll hitchhike”

“
Oh no you’re not!” Janel gasped.
“First, no one will pick you up with that beast at your side, and
second, what if you get picked up by a serial killer or something.
You will end up on that show where they reenact true crimes. Did
you ever see the actresses they get to play the victims? I swear
they pull them off the street corners! And--”

Antonio cut Janel off with, “She won’t have to
hitchhike.”

I turned to look at him. He walked over to me and
gave me a set of keys and an envelope.

I looked at him questionably. “What is this,
Antonio?”

“
Roberto asked me to give them to
you. Those are the keys to the SUV, and I believe there is some
money in the envelope.”

“
You can tell Mr. Valente that I
don’t want anything from him,” I said with a hint of steel in my
voice. I handed the envelope and the keys back to him.

“
You should take it, Olivia. How
else are you going to get to where you have to go?” Janel pleaded
with me.

“
I’ll take her.”

At the sound of the not often heard voice we all
turned. Mark stood in the doorway with a backpack slung over his
shoulder. Regardless of the warm weather he constantly wore a dark
knit cap.

Janel brightened visibly, “Now I feel better, Mark
will give you a ride to wherever you need to go.”

“
No…not a ride. I’m going with
her.” Mark said quietly.

“
Excuse me? Did you say you’re
going with me?”

“
Yep.”

“
Did Roberto put you up to
this?”

“
No.”

“
I don’t believe you. Why would
you want to go with me? We’ve hardly spoken ten words between us
since I got here months ago”

Mark looked uncomfortable. “Just do,” was all he
muttered.

Andy chuckled in the background “It’s because he’s
had a crush on you since the day you got here.”

Mark moved so fast we hardly knew what happened. All
we heard was a solid crack and Andy was sprawled out on the ground
rubbing his bruised jaw.

Janel quickly knelt beside Andy. “Are you okay,
Honey?”

Andy stood up with Janel’s help. “Awe man, you
didn’t have to slug me.”

I was beginning to get a major headache. “Okay…I
think I’ve had enough of this conversation. I’m heading out.”

Mark surprised me by saying, “No don’t go. Can we
talk in private?”

I looked at him warily but shook my head yes. We
walked around to the back of the house and hopefully out of
earshot.

I turned to Mark, waiting for him to start. He
looked like he was having trouble breathing. I took pity on him and
reached out to pat him on the shoulder. The next thing I knew I was
being hauled up against him and his mouth was on mine.

It wasn’t an unpleasant kiss, but it didn’t excite
me in the way that Roberto’s or Alex’s had. Damn vampires.

I pulled away and looked at Mark with sorrow in my
eyes. “Ummm…Mark, I don’t…”

Mark held up his hand to stop me. “Look I know you
aren’t for me, I’m not anything special like the damn vampires. And
you’re a Sensay. Your destiny is not with a grunt like me. But I
wanted to know what it would be like, to hold you and kiss you just
once.”

He stopped for a second and looked me directly in
the eye, “I hate what the vampires did to you. How they used you.
You are too good Olivia. You only want to see the good in people. I
may be just a grunt, but even I know with the power you will one
day wield, there will always be people who want to use you. I want
to go with you to help you.”

I started to speak, but he cut me off, “Don’t worry
about how I feel for you. I know that’s not meant to be, and I’m
okay with it. I just want to be your friend and walk on this
journey with you, if you let me”

I thought about having a friend. I’d been prepared
to give up friendships while I was out discovering my inner Sensay
or whatever the hell you call it. But it would be nice to have
someone familiar around.

“
Okay Mark. As long as you
understand that my feelings for you are for friendship
only.”

Mark nodded his head in the affirmative and we
started walking back to the others.

“
Are you going to have trouble
telling Roberto that you’re leaving?” I asked Mark.

“
Already told him I was leaving.
If you decided you didn’t want me along I was going to leave
anyway.”

He spit on the ground. “Unlike Andy I don’t owe
these fuckers anything”

He walked away from me then and picked his backpack
up from where he dropped it when he slugged Andy. He then walked
over to a rather old jeep. I was astonished when he called Bullet
and the wolf trotted over and sat down in front of Mark waiting to
be petted. Well, I guess I wouldn’t have to worry about the two of
them getting along. I walked over to stand next to Janel. “I will
write you when I know where I’m at. That is if it’s safe.” I looked
at her and we both got teary eyed and hugged each other hard.

“
Geez, you guys act like your
never going to see each other again,” Andy said, clearly looking
uncomfortable with the tears.

Janel walked over to the jeep and leaned in and said
to Mark, “You let anything happen to her and I will hunt you down
and kick your ass.”

Mark nodded solemnly at
her.
Oh brother what a bunch of drama
queens
, I thought.

Mark started the jeep, and with
one last wave at Janel, I leaned back in the seat, my heart beating
fast at the thought of what awaited me.

Then my heart stopped beating all together when I
saw Roberto standing at the end of the driveway with a look of pain
straining his handsome face. He didn’t wave but nodded his head
slightly before he turned and in a flash was gone.

Chapter 5

I could not stand the silence any longer, “So how
long have you been out of the Army?” I asked Mark. When we first
left I was glad for the silence. Leaving Roberto was not easy. I
wanted to jump out of the jeep and run after him, throw my arms
around him and make love to him all night long just like we had so
many times before. And then suddenly a picture of him looking at
Annika with love shining in his eyes came into my mind and the red
glow of anger ran through my veins.

In the back seat Bullet emitted a low growl and Mark
reached over and patted my hand. I gave Mark a quiet,

“
Thanks,” and
thought to myself,
I should have a
picture of Roberto and Annika framed so whenever despair hit me I
could get it out and remind myself of what a no good two- timing
sonofabitch Roberto is.

Beside me, Mark answered, “Navy and two years.”

“
How did you end up working for
Roberto?” I was genuinely curious.

“
Andy and I were in the same SEAL
unit. We had a couple of close calls on some recon missions. We
trusted each other and when Andy left the Navy he told me about a
“special” job he had lined up. Good pay, travel and plenty of
interesting people.”

That made me laugh out loud. “Interesting people,
huh? Did you expect vampires, Sensays and other worldly
creatures?”

“
No. But it makes no difference to
me. The Evolved, just like people, are treacherous and can never be
trusted.”

“
Wow, that’s a pretty cynical
outlook on life.”

Mark looked at me. “Maybe, but it keeps me from
trusting the wrong people and being used.”

Owww...that one struck home. Mark was right. I had
to stop trusting the wrong people. Look what it had gotten me so
far.

Mark asked “Any idea yet of where we’re going?”

“
No, not yet. I know we’re heading
in the right direction though. I feel a sense of going home. Weird,
huh?”

Mark shrugged. “Not really. We all have instincts.
Most don’t use them.”

It got quiet again. I don’t think Mark will ever be
one for chit chat. Sometimes that could be a good thing. As we
traveled north on the interstate I thought about my dream from
today. I had a feeling that the old woman who spoke to me was
somehow related to me. Deep inside I felt an urgency to get to her
in person. I hoped she’d be able to give me some answers about my
Sensay abilities and about my parents.

My thoughts drifted to the man I bumped into. There
was something about him that made me nervous. He looked hard, and
not just his chiseled body. He had the look of someone who had to
fight his entire life.

I leaned back into the seat and made myself relax.
We had been on the road for close to two hours when I saw a sign
for Star Lake. With a growing excitement I said, “Take the next
exit. This is it.”