The Heart's Ashes (30 page)

“
I didn’t say that, Mike. It’s just—”

“
It’s just that you didn’t wanna see me happy—that’s why you
chose
now
to
destroy us all with the truth.”

“
No.”
What an awful thing to
say.

“
Then what, Ara? What possessed you to confess,
now?”

I looked at
the ground.

“
Nothing, huh? That’s it? You have no answer. For all your
ta—”

“
Because I saw him!” I yelled. “Last night…” I took a breath
and closed my eyes. Mike went quiet. “I saw Jason last
night.”

My lips mushed
together between his grip on my face. “Ara, what did he want, did
he—”

“
He didn’t hurt me, Mike. Okay.” I jerked my chin from his
grip. “He saved me.”

“
Saved
you?”

“
Yes. I…got a little lost at Karnivale.” My shoulder’s lifted;
David, hovering by my bedroom door, listened on—the silent
protector in the shadows, ready to come if needed. “And found
myself in a bit of danger,” I continued, leaving out how I got into
danger. “Jason brought me home. I was coming inside to tell you
what he said to me when—”

“
When you found me in bed with your best friend.” He looked at
me for a second, then lopped his forearm across his eyes, laying
back on the couch.

“
Yes,” I whispered.

“
So, what did he say to you?”

“
Jason?” I asked; Mike nodded. “He…” Hmm, what do I tell Mike?
“He said he was under the influence of the monster when he
kidnapped me, and that he regrets what he did.”

“
And you actually listened to that?” Mike’s voice rose with
his straightening spine.

“
No!” I shrugged back a little. “No, I told him to
leave.”

“
Hu!” he scoffed. “I would’ve said a lot worse than
that.”

“
I know you would.”

Seeing the
situation had simmered down, David melted back into my room,
closing the door, giving a gentle smile beforehand.

“
I just can’t believe you didn’t tell me, Ara.” Mike’s clasped
hands rested between his knees, his forearms on his thighs. “I hate
it when you keep things from me. You should’ve let me help you deal
with this.”

“
Well, I didn’t, so—” I shrugged.

“
So what?”

“
So get used to it. I’m not yours anymore.”

The flesh over his cheek pulsed. “And what’s going to happen
when
he
goes away
again?”

I knocked his
arm down from its point at my room. “I don’t know. I’m not thinking
that far ahead.”

“
What, twenty-four-hours?”

“
Stay out of it, Mike. As if you’re any different! You were
kissing me yesterday afternoon, now, all of a sudden, you’re in
love with Emily.”

He clicked his
tongue. “It wasn’t like that, Ar.”

“
Wasn’t it?” I said sarcastically.

“
No. Come here.” He patted the spot next to him, and as if
moved by the habits of the past, I launched off the table and he
swept me into his warm, human embrace. I just wanted to steal a
time machine and go back to yesterday, back before Karnivale, and
stop it. Stop it all from happening.

But that’d
mean I wouldn’t have David.

“
You know,” he said, “I always liked Emily—ever since I shook
her at school that day. We just...we get along really well; we have
more in common than even you and I do, Ara. I just...I don’t know.
I get her. And she gets me.”

“
More than I do?”

He squeezed me
a little tighter. “It’s not like with you and I, and I’ve been
thinking that for too long now. I was just too stupid or maybe too
scared to admit it to myself.”

“
Is that so?”

“
I know it’s sudden, baby. It’s sudden for
me
. But, when you said she’d been
sulking over some guy she likes, I knew—” he smiled, closing his
eyes for a second, “—I knew it was me. I’m the only guy she’s been
hanging out with.”

“
How come I didn’t catch on to that?”

“
You’ve had other things on your mind.” An irrepressible grin
spread across his face. “When you went out with Eric, I sat at the
table thinking about it for ages, running it all over in my
mind—
Emily
,
liking
me
. I
mean, she lights up my world, Ara. She’s gorgeous and funny and so
bubbly—”

“
So unlike me.”

“
Don’t be like that, baby. You and Emily are two
very
different
people.”

“
And that’s the point, isn’t it?”

“
Maybe. I don’t know. But, you know me, Ara, I’ve never gone
for girls like Emily before.”

“
I know. That’s why I felt safe that she’d never steal
you.”

“
She didn’t steal me. You didn’t want me.”

“
That doesn’t make it okay to fall in love with my best
friend.”

“
It wasn’t planned or deliberate. I just...I sat thinking for
so long; thinking about you and what we had or would ever have
again; thought about the kiss, the way you left with Eric. Ara,
even if David hadn’t come back, there’s no way you’d come back to
me. We both know that.”

“
No, we don’t. No one can predict the future,
Mike.”

“
When it comes to you, baby girl, I can.”

“
So, what, you just—you just knocked on her door and
said
hey let’s get it
on
?”

“
No.”

“
Then how did you end up in bed with her?”

He paused. “I
kissed her. She came out wearing that emerald green sweater I love
on her. I smiled, and I could tell from the way she smiled back
that it was true—that the guy she’d been sulking over was me. So I
walked over, grabbed her face and kissed her.”

“
And the rest is history.” I sighed.

“
I’m sorry you had to see that, Ara.” Mike took my
hand.

“
I know. It’s just so surreal, though. How, one minute you
were still mine, and the next—”

“
I don’t know what to say, baby. I still feel for you—more
than you can imagine—more than is right for the way I feel for
Emily, too.”

“
The heart knows no boundaries, Mike. It feels what it wants
to feel.”

“
Yes, but as human beings, we know boundaries, and we choose
to take the right path—or stray from it. I shouldn’t have done that
with Emily until I sorted out my feelings for you.”

“
Mm-hm. Just like I shouldn’t have David here while I have
unresolved feelings for you. But…here we are.”

Mike nodded,
the smile dropping from his face. “Do you think she’ll ever talk to
me again?”

“
I know she will, Mike. She loves you—she always has.” I
looked down. “Give her time. She’s all but lost Jason, all over
again. Not to mention she’s just found out that her best friend’s
been lying to her and that there’s no such thing as normal in this
world anymore. She needs to grieve.”

“
Then I should be there with her.”

“
You can’t save them all, Mike. Just let her go. She’ll come
back when she’s ready.”

“
I hope you’re right.”

“
I am. Don’t worry—” I laughed through my nose, almost
snorting, “—a girl never forgets her first.
Trust
me, she’ll be
back.”

“
Her first?” Mike looked sideways at me.

“
Yeah, didn’t you know? Emily was a virgin.”

“
What?” Mike dropped his head into his hands. “She never told
me that.”

“
Ha! Cheeky thing.” I laughed again, holding my belly. It’d
been a long time since I used those muscles.

All those stories I told Emily about Mike’s apprehension to
take a girl’s virginity, she must have been paying
very
close attention. At
least now I see why she always loved to sit and talk about
him.

I found it
utterly hilarious, but Mike hadn’t moved since realising he was a
cherry-popper. “Mike, you okay?”

“
I need to see her.” He jumped up, headed for the front
door.

“
Mike?” When he turned, a gasp of shock cooled my lips, seeing
the obvious distress in his eyes. “Don’t be mad at her, okay? She’s
had enough for one day.”

“
I’m not mad.” He nodded. “I just need to make her okay
again.”

Before I could
chase after him, David popped his arm out through my doorway, phone
in hand. “Eric wants to talk to you.”

“
Eric?” I grabbed my phone, studying the humour behind David’s
eyes. “He knows you’re here?”

“
Does now.” He smiled once more then walked over and flopped
on my bed.

“
Hey, Eric?”

“
Hey kiddo.”

“
What’s up?”

“
I wanted to apologise for Karnivale last night. I never meant
for you to get—”

“
It’s okay,” I said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“
How can I ever make it up to you?”

“
Well, you can start by keeping my fugitive a
secret.”

“
That goes without saying, Amara,” he said, and his tone said
the same. “We’re still friends, right?”

“
Yeah. Still friends.”

“
I talked to Arthur.”

“
About what?”

“
About Jason.”

“
What about him?” I looked at David, who smiled, like he
already knew.

“
Told him Jason’s been stalking you.”

“
What makes you think he’s stalking me?”

“
He knew where you lived. The scouts I was telling you
about—the ones searching for David—have been tracking a completely
different girl.”

“
What’s that got to do with Jason?”

“
He’s the one who put them on that trail.”

“
Why?”

“
I don’t know. But even Arthur had no clue they were onto the
wrong girl.”

“
And you told him?”

“
No. He still doesn’t know. I left it that way, Amara. I
wouldn’t meddle in things that are not of my business.”

“
Scared of Jason, huh?”

“
That douche? No way,” he scoffed; David chuckled. “Jason’s
bottom of the food chain, kiddo. No one’s scared of
him.”

David
confirmed this with a smug grin.

“
So, you told Arthur Jason was stalking me?”

“
Yeah. Jason’s not a part of the search. He has no reason to
be stalking you. Arthur’s called him off—put him on castle
duties.”

Impressive.
“Well, thanks,
Eric.”

“
No worries. But, Amara?”

“
Yeah?”

“
That doesn’t give you long. Once Jason gets wind of his
brother being back, there’s no telling what he’ll do. He’s still
out for revenge.”

“
Okay. So, how much time do we have?”

“
A week or so—maybe less. I’d advise David be far and gone by
then.”

I smiled at
David. “Well, at least we can relax for now.”

“
Yeah. Enjoy, beautiful girl.”

“
Thanks, Eric.”

“
Catch ya,” he said, then hung up, leaving David and I in the
house, alone, with nearly a week left together before the world
would fall apart. I suddenly felt alive.

“
How ‘bout that coffee you made me a half hour ago?” he said,
crossing his ankles.

“
How ‘bout we forget the coffee and just go back to
bed.”

“
But I’m hungry.”

I sat with my
legs on either side of his hips, my hands linked around his neck.
“Me too.”

Realisation
moved in under his smile. “Oh, right. Blood?”

“
Yeah, blood.”

He made a
small cut in his neck, wincing a little. “You are incorrigible,
Ara-Rose.”

Chapter
10

David breathed
heavily on the pillow beside me. I rested my head on my arm and
watched him sleep. His face looked so different when he wasn’t
trying to be reserved and mature, or hide a thought under a
smile.

He’s simple in
this form, I thought, more human than I’ve even seen him
before.

I lifted my
fingertips and placed them just near his lips, feeling the soft,
cool air from his nose. He’s amazing. Just the fact that he’s
breathing, existing—here, is amazing.

“
Morning.” He smiled and turned his face away, without opening
his eyes.

“
Hi.” I rested my chin on my forearms, still watching
him.

“
You know, it’s rude to stare at people while they’re
sleeping.”

“
So? You do it all the time.”

“
It’s a vampire thing.”

“
Yeah. I know.” I offered him a thought—one of Eric appearing
in my bed that morning.

David laughed
softly. “Don’t worry, my love, I intend to hunt him down and hurt
him for everything he put you through.”