Tainted Blood (3 page)

To make my night even more enjoyable (there’s more of that sarcasm I’d mentioned earlier), Ashton was there,
and
Kiera was on a date with one of his roid-monkey friends!

Ashton
. The dude had become a raging ass-hat, and I can’t believe I’d ever been friends with such a douche.

Again, maybe it was the liquid courage that made me do it, or just my own stupidity, but I encouraged Laney to drink something that probably should’ve never touched her lips. But she could be stubborn, as could I, and put together, we’d make a mess, wreak some havoc, and cause heartache. At that time, it’s what I wanted. I wanted others to feel pain that I lived with every day. I wanted Kiera and Ashton and even Oliver to hurt. Just because I was hurting.

Because I didn’t know what my future held and it scared me, and maybe because I would never be able to be “that guy” to Laney, and probably because Ashton had always been such a bastard, he needed to be wounded. He needed to think that I had gotten Laney when he knew she would
never
be his.

It felt good to rub it in Ashton’s face, and knowing that Oliver was hiding in the shadows, that made it even sweeter. I knew he was there, in the bar that night. Laney had seen him too, but he wasn’t alone, and Felix thought that mind-wipe-thingy worked on me. He was wrong. I saw Oliver, I heard him get in Ashton’s face and tell him that her boyfriend was right there with us, I also saw Felix drag Oliver’s irate ass back into the darkness. I pretended like it was nothing, like it hadn’t happened, just as the others did because Felix had reached in and wiped the memory from them. It was a dirty trick, and I was thankful to be immune.

I loved Laney, always had, maybe not in the way I thought I did that night, more of a protective-brother way. I loved Kiera, not in a brother way. In a want-to-spend-the-rest-of-my-life-with-you way, and I think I always had, but it terrified me.

I was afraid of exactly what I became that night. That I would become the monster that hurt her, that burned our bridge. I saw it in Kiera’s eyes as I took Laney out onto the dance floor. I wanted it to hurt her, but then I didn’t want anything to hurt her, ever. I have issues. I think that’s fairly clear.

What I didn’t see that night was Ashton taking pictures of Laney and me on his phone and distributing them to the world. I’d gotten lost there, in the warmth of the dance floor. The music pulsing, the lights low, the smell of sweat and alcohol, bodies swaying and bumping into each other… It was too much, and my plan to retaliate against all of them backfired.

Laney was hot, she always had been, but she didn’t know it. She had no clue the number of guys who spent time thinking of her, at night, in the dark. I’m slightly ashamed to admit that, I too, had been one of them, from time to time.

Only slightly ashamed.

And on this particular night, fueled by liquid goodness, she was
too
hot. Sexy couldn’t begin to explain it, and I got lost in her: the way she moved, the way her long, dark hair fell over her shoulders… Even in grubby jeans and a plain, long sleeved top she was a vision, and I couldn’t help myself.

I hadn’t intended to get lost in her. I’d intended to hurt others, and I ended up hurting myself even more. Laney was perfect, everything about her, and when her dark eyes met mine, while she was in my arms, on that dance floor; I wanted her,
really
wanted her.

That’s when I realized I’d gone too far. I’d royally fucked up. I was an idiot, and it wasn’t just me that would be hurt by my actions. The one person, the only friend that had
never
let me down, was the one I was hurting at that very moment. I’d used her to get back at everyone, and she would pay. I hated myself.

It was already too late when I led her off of the dance floor. Kiera and I were over, for good. I could see it in the pain in her eyes. Laney and Kiera, they were over for good, too. And if Oliver was still in the shadows somewhere, I was pretty sure I was dead, for good.

My stupidity continued to get us into trouble when we left the bar. Laney was drunk, there was no doubt there because she would have never behaved that way with me or anyone, not without her inhibitions being, well, gone. Laney didn’t behave that way. She just didn’t.

I got us lost after we left the bar because I have no sense of direction, and
that’s when we encountered a couple of backwoods boys.

I’m positive the encounter was about to get us
killed had Felix and Oliver not rushed in and saved us. I hated myself even more right then because I had to face it, I cannot keep Laney safe. I can’t even keep myself safe. I was weak and puny. I wasn’t a strong, hot vampire, like her boyfriend, who had to rescue us.

I’m surprised the dude didn’t just take her and run, leaving me to be beaten to death by tweedle-dumb and dumber.

I don’t have a clue how we got home. Maybe it was Laney, maybe she had a sense of direction or maybe mine finally kicked in. But we made it home, just not to the right apartment as it turned out.

Once we were inside Laney and Kiera’s apartment I propped the now unhinged door up, and Laney took off for the bathroom. I couldn’t believe how sober I felt. Having the shit scared out of you and running for your life would do that to a guy, I suppose. Laney, on the other hand, not so much. But again, I
thought
I was sober.
And this is how I remembered that night, or how I wanted to remember it.

I waited outside the bathroom for a while, making sure she wasn’t vomiting. When she didn’t answer when I knocked, I slowly cracked the door and peeked inside.

“Whatcha doin’, Lane?” I asked.

She was standing in front of the sink with her top and jeans off. She was struggling with her shirt— it was twisted in a ball—when she noticed I was there. Damn, she was beautiful. It honestly was not helping me that she was in nothing but her bra and panties.

“You okay?” I asked.

She frowned at me. “I dropped my shirt in the toilet.”

She held it out to me, and I put my hands up. I wasn’t going to touch that thing if it had been in the toilet. I have my limits. I opened the bathroom door the rest of the way, and moving closer, I got her to drop the shirt in the tub then I scrubbed her hands in the sink. It was hard not to look at her body in the reflection of the mirror and even harder to avoid taking a whiff of her hair as I stood so close and held her hands under the water. If Oliver had shown up right then, my life would’ve ended.

Once her hands were dry I pulled my T-shirt off over my head and then helped her pull it over hers. I couldn’t look at her like that anymore. If I did, I knew it would definitely be my last night on the planet.

Once my shirt was covering her, she stared up at me with those dark brown eyes. She lifted her hand, and her gentle fingers traced the scar across my left eye. I freaking shivered at her touch. I could’ve punched myself right then.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. Her eyes met mine, and I lost my resolve. I cupped her face with one hand and gently kissed her. She didn’t reject me this time, and my other hand cupped the other side of her face, and when her lips parted mine did too. I didn’t take the next step until she did; when her tongue touched mine first I followed, but when her hands found the top button of my jeans, I froze.

Just like that, my brain turned back on.
Stupid brain!

I couldn’t do this. I knew if we did, she wouldn’t remember, and I wanted her to remember. I couldn’t, I wouldn’t take advantage of her, of the fact that I could get away with it, and she’d probably never know.

I couldn’t…could I?

Her cool tongue continued to stroke mine. I couldn’t, even though I wanted to, I just couldn’t. Plus, I had a creepy thought that made me think that it kinda felt like I was crossing some sort of incest line, or something.

I pulled away from her. Her dark eyes questioned me silently. “Laney, we can’t do this.”

She didn’t put up an argument. Just shrugged and accepted it as it was, and when she hopped down off the sink I realized that I’d missed something.

When did she get up on the counter
,
and when did I lose my pants
…
?
Oh, shit…

I pulled my jeans, that were around my ankles, back up over my boxers, and once they were buttoned, I followed her to the kitchen wondering what the hell I’d just missed.

Next thing I knew, Laney was giggling, we were sitting on top of the dining table, and she was putting Band-Aids over the scar on my face. She was still wearing my T-shirt, and I was still wearing my jeans. These were good signs. ‘Cause I didn’t want to die. I wanted to live, but I was pretty certain Oliver would make sure I didn’t at this point.

I don’t know how much of what I remember truly happened or didn’t happen but the next thing I knew it was morning, and Laney and I were in her bed, together. We still had on the same amount of clothing as we did when we were on the table, and I was grateful for that. I’d been the biggest idiot on the face of the planet, and if I could’ve taken it all back right then, I would have.

I guess I’d just have to accept my pounding headache as punishment. But the nightmare wasn’t over. It continued when Laney woke up, and I asked her how she was feeling. My mouth felt like cotton, and my stomach was beginning to protest last night’s actions when I heard Oliver’s voice. I couldn’t get out of that bed fast enough when I heard his voice coming from behind Laney, but she had a death-grip on my thumb, and I had to pry her fingers away to get free.

Even though I was terrified out of my skull, I narrowed my eyes at Oliver, challenging him, when he, well, basically reprimanded me and then threatened my life. Having my life threatened the way he’d done it, it wasn’t something I was unfamiliar with, having a father like mine and all. I didn’t expect less from Oliver, but it still hit too close to home.

Without a word I grabbed my shoes and took off.

The stupid door was propped against the frame, I knocked it over trying to get out and slammed it against the wall, shaking the building. It was mostly because I was pissed, and partly because I was terrified. I didn’t really know what had happened between Laney and me and that was freaking me out. Big time! But it couldn’t have been anything, right? Oliver would have known, and I would be dead. Right?

When I got to my apartment, you know, the one I share with Oliver—shit! I couldn’t avoid him forever—Felix was kicked back on the couch, waiting for me.

He grinned at me. “Good to see he didn’t kill you.”

“He should have,” I said without thinking. Acting and/or speaking without thinking, it was like my superpower.

Felix stood. “Give him some time. This will all blow over soon enough. Now, grab your things.”

“Why?”

“Because, until this does blow over, you should fear for your life.” He grinned again.

I didn’t even hesitate. I packed a bag, and we got the hell out of there.

Turned out Felix had his own place. It was near Isaac and Julz’s house, just a couple streets over. It wasn’t very big, just two bedrooms and one was his office, so I crashed on the couch.

Felix was an interesting guy. Well, interesting might not cover it. Perhaps mysterious was more fitting? His office contained some really cool stuff, but he wouldn’t tell me when or where anything was from. For example: there were a couple of shields on the wall. They looked old, as if they’d seen an actual battle, and he wouldn’t give me any info.

None.

There were a couple of swords, another shield, and a helmet that I asked about, and he gave me nothing. The only item he divulged anything about was a map, or more like twelve sections of a map. It was put together to make up one map, and it was in a large frame on the wall. It was super old looking, and Felix told me that it was from the sixteenth century. He informed me it was the first map to show the Americas separate from Asia, and it was by somebody who started with a W. I didn’t care. I wanted to know where the shields and swords were from. He booted me out of his office when I wouldn’t let it go, and he locked the door so I couldn’t sneak back in.

His living room was a totally different world from his office. He had the complete
Loon
e
y Tunes
collection, a ton of movies, and an Xbox with lots of games. I got addicted to
Guitar Hero
while I was there, and Isaac and Hayden even came over. I got my ass handed to me by all three of them. That’s when I decided that I needed one of those game systems, and I was going to be saving up to get me one of those suckers. I thought about how I could probably beat Laney at the game. Then I remembered Laney, and if it was up to Oliver, we’d probably never be allowed to hang out again. I tried not to think any more about it.

Felix also had this seriously cross-eyed Siamese cat
that in the middle
of the night, liked to jump on me, scaring the crap out of me. I was far from amused.

Oh, and that dude had a serious sweet tooth! One night he pulled out a package of Oreo cookies—the double stuffed ones—and he pulled them apart and scraped the middles out and made like multi-million stuffed Oreos! They were like mini towers, and he ate an entire package by doing this then finished off the leftover cookie parts. Dude has a problem. I always saw him eating junk.