Laney (17 page)

“Don’t worry about that. I will meet you in a little while.” He turned to Felix. “Protect her with your life.”

“You know I will,” his voice was deep and powerful.

Oliver’s hands slipped from mine and I was swept up into the big man’s arms. I desperately reached for Oliver.
How could he leave me with this…this vampire?
He took my hand. “Trust him, Laney. He’d die for you, as would I.” Then he kissed the back of my hand.

Die?
“What? No!” And then we were gone.

I must’ve blacked out again because the next thing I knew, we were in my apartment and that big Felix dude—
vampire
—that I was told to trust, was covering me with a blanket on the couch. I stared up at him as he made a burrito out of me in the blanket. His arms looked like they were the size of my thighs, and his neck possibly the size of my waist—granted my waist was rather thin.

“What’s going on?” There was still a hint of desperation in my voice.

He smiled and his full, round face softened. “Nothing to worry about,” he said in his deep, husky voice.
Right. Nothing to worry about...
He pulled the blanket tighter over me, gently tucking it around me. He was like a gentle giant with beautiful crystal-clear, sky-blue eyes; but I had no doubt he was lethal. Then everything went black again.

I woke up to the sound of Oliver’s voice. The front door was open and I could see he was standing just outside the door.

“How did you know?” I heard him ask.

“Julz. Well, actually, Hayden. I guess Julz had a bad fit this time and Hayden called and told me to find you,” Felix responded from outside of the apartment and out of my sight.

“Why didn’t she call me?”

“I‘m not sure. Maybe because it was too late. He was already here.”

“I can’t believe I let my guard down like that. I should’ve known… I should’ve…” I saw him hang his head and shake it as his shoulders slumped.

“Don’t beat yourself up over this. She’s safe. They all are.” He stepped into my view near Oliver and patted him on the shoulder. His big, meaty hand consumed Oliver’s not-so-small shoulder.

“For now.” He sounded troubled.

“Did you talk to D?” Felix asked.

“Yeah,” he sighed. “He’s freaking out, but you know there’s nothing he can do.”

“Should we take them there?” Felix asked.

“No, it’s not safe. Oscar’s watching. We’d just be putting him in danger, too.”

“Why don’t you go change before she wakes up and sees you like that?”

“Felix, she knows,” he trailed off, turning toward me and coming into the apartment.

“What are you doing? You just checked on her. She’s fine.”

“I know and she’s also awake now.”

How the hell does he know that?
It was dark in my apartment and I hadn’t moved or made a sound.

He was at my side a moment later. He kneeled down beside the couch and kissed me gently on the forehead. He looked into my eyes, curiosity in his own. “You okay?”

I nodded. I was afraid to speak. I wanted to ask what they were talking about and…oh, yeah, and about the vampire thing…
This can’t be happening!
I wasn’t sure I could control my voice or even find it.

He stared into my eyes and I worked up the nerve to quietly speak.

“This might be a ridiculous question.” I paused.
Here goes.
“Is your brother a vampire?” My voice trembled. He nodded.

I took a deep breath and blew it out. “Are you?”

He squeezed my hand and nodded again, never taking his emerald eyes off of mine.

My body shivered involuntarily—shock. My senses were coming back and working overtime. He smiled a broken smile and kissed my forehead again. Felix was standing just behind him. My body was in shock, but I didn’t feel shocked like I should have.

“Get some more rest,” Oliver whispered.

When I woke again it was dark, really dark. The front door was still open. It was quiet and I began to panic that I was alone or that something had happened to Oliver. I slowly and quietly rose from the couch and, with some difficulty, was able to get myself unraveled from the blanket. I tiptoed to the door, peeked around the frame, and saw Oliver sitting on the top step with Felix beside him. He was so big he dwarfed Oliver. His body was huge and wide; he was like one big, enormous hunk of muscle. Oliver was fumbling around with his phone and he had a stainless steel water bottle sitting beside him. Then I remembered it all: The others, the fangs, the growls, and hissing.
Am I okay with this? I’ve always felt safe with him. Can I compare this to finding out he has an extra toe? He’s just different, right?

“It’s been quiet for too long,” Felix said to Oliver. His words pulled me out of my own thoughts.

“I know, but why now? Why here?” Oliver’s voice was almost pleading.

Felix dropped his voice a little. “What’s going on with you? I’ve never seen you like this before.”

I saw the corner of Oliver’s mouth turn up into a smile and he said, “I know you’re there, Laney.”

Am I okay with this?
With a seriously nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach, I slowly walked over to them. Oliver was a mess; his clothes were torn and bloody.

He stared up at me with a miserable expression.

I looked at the water bottle, crossed my arms over my chest, and gave it a little tap with my foot. “Is that blood?” My voice was steadier than I felt.

“Yes.” He looked away, his head drooping. “I understand if you want me to leave.” His voice was miserable. It broke my heart.

Yes, I am okay with this
. I reached my hand out for his and his green eyes lifted to mine in surprise.

I smiled a weary smile and quietly said, “Stay with me.”

He was on his feet and had me in his arms so fast, lifting me a few inches off the ground. He held me tight and then set me back down on my feet. He crouched to my height so his face was level with mine, his eyes piercing mine. “I won’t hurt you.” And he meant it.

“I think you would’ve done it by now.” I snuggled into his chest.
I belong right here.
He wrapped his arms around me. He kissed the top of my head and I looked up at him. Then he kissed me with such fierce passion that the world around me disappeared.

When he pulled away, I remembered Felix was there—still sitting on the top step, looking up at us. He had a mischievous little grin on his face. “Now it makes sense.” He smiled. “Go ahead man; I’ll keep watch.” A deep chuckle followed.

“Thank you,” Oliver said. He took my hand and gestured toward the apartment. I led the way to my room, my heart racing.
My boyfriend is a vampire and I’m okay with it.
I smiled a nervous smile to myself as my stomach had its own moment of anxiety.

We sat on the edge of my bed, our fingers intertwined.

“Why would you think I’d want you to leave?” I asked softly.

“My biggest fear was that you wouldn’t want me once you knew what I was.”

“I’ll admit it would’ve been nice to find out differently, but we can’t change that now.” I ran my hand across his back and my fingers caught on his ripped shirt.

“What happened to your clothes?” I asked, looking him over. He was a mess, his hair askew, his clothes bloody and torn.

“It’s nothing.”

“Nothing? You’ve got blood all over your clothes. Are you hurt?”

“No,” he said with a snicker.

“How is this funny?” I said it a little louder than intended. “What the hell happened back there?” My nerves were frazzled.

“No, I wasn’t laughing about that. It’s just…I…um…I’m not hurt.”

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me down onto my side, holding me tight with my back against his chest.

“I won’t hurt you, even if my instincts ever tell me differently. I can control it,” he whispered into my ear.

Instincts? What the hell might they tell him to do?
I didn’t want to know right then.

We lay there in the quiet for a while, his arms still wrapped around me and I trailed my fingers along his arm. So many things were running through my mind, I didn’t know where to start. He was quiet. I couldn’t tell if he was awake. I didn’t even know if vampires slept. My stomach turned every time I thought of that word. I had so many questions, so much I wanted to ask. Was what Oscar said true?
Ugh! It’s too much to take in right now. I don’t think I really even want to know.
I cuddled into him and he squeezed me tighter in his arms.

It hadn’t occurred to me to be afraid of Oliver. Oscar was terrifying, but Oliver… I felt safe with him, like he would do anything to protect me—like he loved me.

I worked up my nerve and whispered, “Are you asleep?”

“No,” he hesitated and then added, “I don’t really need sleep.”
Huh…

I rolled over to face him. He kept one arm around me and propped his head up with the other. He smiled at me like he knew my mood had shifted to curiosity. I couldn’t help but smile back.

“What else?” I asked.

He raised an eyebrow at me. “What do you want to know?”

“Duh. Everything.” He laughed out loud at that. “Start at the beginning,” I said. “Have you always been a, uh…” It was tough to say the word out loud; saying it made it real. I swallowed. “A vampire?”

“No.” He didn’t offer any more.

I rolled my eyes at him. “Don’t make me ask a hundred questions. Just tell me everything.”

He kissed my forehead, sighed and said “Fine.” Then he continued to fill me in on his history. “It was November 13
^th
, 1992, the day before Olivia’s sixteenth birthday. Oscar and I were eighteen. We would turn nineteen in March. We had taken Livie into the city for dinner and to a movie she wanted to see as her birthday gift. We were walking back to the car after the movie when we were attacked.”

Closing his eyes, he took and deep breath and I felt him tremble. I rubbed his arm comfortingly and he came back to himself, giving me a forced smile. “I can still hear her screaming. There was no way we could have fought them off, but we tried. I still, to this day, have no idea how many there were. It was dark. They were quiet and said nothing; they just attacked us, dragging us into a nearby alley.” His voice cracked.

“How did you survive?” I whispered.

“Well, we really didn’t, according to some.” His playful smile had returned.

I rolled my eyes again. “You look and feel pretty alive to me,” I said, as I ran my fingers along his arm.

“Felix and a few others saved us.”

My eyes widened.

“We had all been bitten and mostly drained by vampires. Once you’re bitten and drained, you have to share blood from the one who bit you or you’ll die, or, in some cases, if you survive, you’ll go crazy. When Felix showed up, he was able to save Oscar and me with the blood of our attackers before he finished them off, but it was too late for Olivia.” He buried his face into my shoulder.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

His head popped up and he quickly kissed my lips. “Don’t be. I wouldn’t have met you. Of course, the loss of Olivia was horrific and I miss her every day, but she is also the one who taught me to live each day to its fullest. She would want me to be happy.” He smiled at me. “I can’t regret any of my life and I don’t. I got a second chance and it has made me who I am and it has brought me to you.” He kissed me again, but slower this time.

“If it was meant to be, we would’ve found each other even if you weren’t a vampire.” It was easier to say this time.

“Yeah, but I’m thirty-five. People would think I was your dad.”

“Nah, they’d just think you were my sugar daddy,” I joked.

“Ha, ha. Very funny,” he said sarcastically. He kissed the tip of my nose.

“You don’t age?” I asked.

“We do; just really, really slowly.”

“Then what happened after Felix saved you?”

“He took us back to…uh…I don’t know how to explain this…”

I raised an eyebrow at him.

He took a deep breath. “He took us to this place where they try to save and rehabilitate new and rogue vampires.”

My brow furrowed. I started to ask a question but he stopped me.

“Let me explain: There’s a coven in the Bay Area that has a large population of vampires, which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing except that most are more like rogue vampires. They are ruthless, out to destroy and cause problems, whereas we try to live somewhat normal lives. Their so-called leader hides and doesn’t try to keep order. So, Felix, and a group of others whom he trusts, were out patrolling for rogues.”

I interrupted, “So, there’s like a good clan and a bad clan? And Felix was leading the good clan?”

“Coven, but yes. He was leading them, but he’s not their leader. It’s dangerous for the leader to be out; it’s like the President not having security.”

“Couldn’t his
coven
protect him?” I enunciated the word.

“They could, but it’s just best this way. Anyway, Felix took us to the good coven near Reno, hoping he could save us. Physically, we recovered quickly, but because the vampires that turned us were junkies, we had a hard time emotionally.”

“Junkies?”

“Mortal blood is unpredictable. We are affected by whatever ailment affects that person, be it drugs, alcohol, illness, and so on. We react as if we are ill or intoxicated and we go through the symptoms and withdrawals. Once we had fully recovered, Oscar went home. He was advised against it, but the death of Olivia was too much for him. When he got there, our parents were gone, too.”

“What happened to them?”

“Oscar and I didn’t know that it had taken us close to two months to fully recover. We thought it had only been a few days, maybe a week, so a lot had happened. Our deaths had been played off as gang-related and our dad had gone out looking for our killers, not knowing what he was really facing. He was killed immediately. He returned to the area where we were attacked and he began accosting anyone who looked like a gang member.”

“Why would he do that?”

“From what I’ve heard, my parents felt that nothing was being done to find whoever had killed us. So, my dad tried to take it into his own hands. He was desperate and had just lost all of his children at once. I can’t even imagine the grief they felt. Fortunately, we are more able to deal with such situations now. Unfortunately, it’s too late for my parents.” He sighed. His eyes contained so much sadness.