The Vow: Dangerous Suggestions Book 1 (12 page)

“
Why are you trying to
help me?” I asked, even more curious now. I’d already told him I
wasn’t interested in helping him. Maybe his plan was to befriend
me.

He shrugged. “I am just trying to be
friendly.”

I watched him, unsure of what I should
say. I didn’t really believe him. He had some other motive, other
than being friendly, but I didn’t know what it was. I couldn’t
believe he really thought that reason would be enough to ease my
suspicion. Before I could say anything, the door opened.

“
Hey, where did you…”
Mason started, then froze when he saw Deek. “What is he doing
here?” he asked, sounding a little worried. I could see the flash
of fear cross Mason’s face.

I looked at Deek trying to come up
with a valid reason for being in Dawson’s front yard. I didn’t have
one. Deek looked like he wanted to kill Mason. I was only hoping
Deek would continue to play nice in an attempt to earn my
favor.

“
You are lucky I am trying
to be nice,” Deek said softly as he glared at Mason. I could see
the tension in Deek’s body. He really wanted to hurt Mason, but he
was holding himself back.

“
You, nice? Ha!” Mason
said, sounding skeptical.

“
Mason,” I snapped. I
couldn’t believe Mason was being so brazen. I couldn’t help Mason
if Deek decided to quit playing nice. I didn’t want Mason to change
Deek’s mind about being nice, that was for sure.

“
Seriously, Larel, what is
he doing here?” Mason asked, glaring at me. He was getting
defensive, as if I owed him an answer.

I raised my eyebrows in annoyance. “He
is here, talking to me. Go back inside and mind your own business.”
If Mason was going to be rude, then I was going to be
rude.

Mason’s gaze shifted to Deek when he
realized I wasn’t going to give him the answers he wanted. “Dawson
is going to hear about this,” Mason snapped; then he spun on his
heel and marched back into the house.

I honestly couldn’t believe he
listened. I figured he would stand there and battle me.

“
There are rumors you are
seeing Mason; are they true?” Deek asked, after a few moments of
silence.

I looked back at Deek. My eyes had
been on the door that Mason walked through a few minutes earlier.
“No. I would like to know why you are really here. Do you really
think befriending me is going to convince me to take over the
humans for you?” I asked skeptically.

He smiled slightly. “I am optimistic.
I should go. I have obligations elsewhere. I just wanted to drop
that by and give you something to think about,” he said, nodding
toward the packet.

I looked down at the packet in my
hands. My curiosity was getting the best of me. I wanted to know
what was inside. When I looked back up, he was gone. I scowled in
annoyance and looked around. He was nowhere in sight. I knew he’d
disappeared back in to the woods.

I sighed and turned toward the house.
I walked inside, knowing Mason was lurking somewhere inside waiting
to question me.

As soon as I made it inside and closed
the door, Mason appeared in the hall. “Seriously, Larel. Deek is
dangerous. What are you doing talking to him?”

“
Everyone is dangerous to
you because you have a special way of pissing everyone off,” I
countered.

He crossed his arms and eyed me like
he wanted to tell me off. “Dawson isn’t…” he started, but I cut him
off.

“
Dawson isn’t my boss. I
can talk to whoever I want to, whenever I want to,” I snapped, then
hurried up the stairs past him. I wasn’t going to waste my time
fighting with him. I wanted to know what was in the packet. It
seemed to get heavier in my hand the more I thought about it. I
wanted to know what could be so important that Deek thought it
would earn him points with me.

I shut and locked my door, then sat
down on my bed. I looked at the packet. I wanted to know what was
in the packer, but I was a little worried at the same time. Deek
seemed to think that whatever was in the packet could give me clues
to what I was. If I knew what I was, maybe I could figure out who I
was. I’d often wondered if I had family. I wasn’t sure what I would
do if I did. I was so used to being on my own, the thought of
having a family seemed foreign to me.

I took a breath and ripped the packet
open. I quickly scanned the paper. It was a description of a siren.
A siren, as in the mythical creature, that called to sailors,
causing them to sink their ships. It didn’t make sense. According
to the paper, a siren was half woman and half beast. I wasn’t half
beast. I did have the ability to persuade humans, but that was
about the only thing I had in common with a siren. I didn’t send
anyone to their death, that was for sure. I sighed and set the
papers aside. It would have been so much easier if Deek was around
so I could ask him what led him to believe this had anything to do
with me. He obviously thought there was a link somewhere. I wished
I knew what it was. I didn’t feel like I had learned anything. If
anything, I was even more confused.

There was a loud knock on my door. I
knew it was Mason, and I wasn’t interested in talking to him. “I
know you are in there. Don’t ignore me,” Mason said huffily, from
the other side of the door.

“
What do you want?” I
asked, trying to keep my tone from betraying my annoyance. Lately,
it had been getting harder for me to control my emotions. I didn’t
like feeling like I was losing control of my feelings. In a way, it
made me feel weak and vulnerable. I hated that feeling.

“
I want to talk to you,”
he said, trying to sound neutral. He was going to act like he was
playing nice so I would open the door. I was sure as soon as I
opened the door he would be trying to tell me off.

I rolled my eyes as I got to my feet.
I walked over and unlocked the door, then went back over to the bed
and sat back down. Mason opened the door and stepped into the room.
He glanced around like he was expecting to find someone else in the
room with me.

“
What?” I asked testily,
when he didn’t speak immediately.

He sighed. “I really want to stress
how dangerous Deek is. You cannot trust him. He will do anything
and everything he has to do to get his way. He isn’t like Dawson.
He doesn’t have a code he lives by.” Mason sounded genuinely
worried. I wasn’t sure if it was from his own fear of Deek, or if
he really knew Deek that well.

“
I don’t trust him; then
again, I don’t quite trust you and Dawson either,” I said, in a
matter of fact tone. I wasn’t trying to hurt his feelings; it was
the truth. I didn’t trust that their motives were simply to be my
friends. I was beginning to think people like me couldn’t have true
friends because they would all try to use my power to their
advantage.

He looked a little caught off guard
and hurt by my statement. “You don’t trust us?” he asked
quietly.

“
Should I? I mean, it
seems like everyone has a motive for being nice to me. I know I am
not the easiest person to get along with. I am not emotional and
normal like other girls you know. Why did you really ask me to
stay? Why did Dawson ask me to stay?” I asked defensively. I didn’t
mean to get defensive. I wanted to speak to him logically, but it
quickly turned from logical to emotional. I didn’t know why I was
so worried about his answer. What if he confirmed I was just a
means to an end? As much as I would have liked to say I didn’t
care, the fact was, I did.

He was watching me. The confused look
on his face told me he didn’t really understand what was going on.
“I asked you to stay because I like you. I actually like you a lot,
but you are completely blind to any of my advances. It isn’t my
fault you don’t know how to tell how people feel about you. I am
not the one who raised you to be a robot.”

I scowled as I crossed my arms in
defiance. I was tired of the word robot. I didn’t think I was a
robot, but it was a word he liked to use a lot when he described
me. “Just go away,” I muttered, as I looked away from
him.

He didn’t look like he was going to
comply, but then he threw his hands in the air and walked out. He
slammed the door behind him, making me jump.

I flopped down on the bed and stared
at the ceiling. I didn’t know what to think or do. I was at a loss.
Trying to interact with others was overwhelming me. I had the urge
to go back to my old life; in fact, that was what I was beginning
to think I should do. Every conclusion I had come to when I was
living my old life seemed to be invalid now. The emotions involved
in interacting with others seemed so distant back then. Now I was
in the mix of everything I used to observe, and I didn’t know how
to act.

I stood, abruptly. I was going to go
back to my old life. I had to go back to preserve my sanity. I
couldn’t stand the uncertainty. I didn’t belong here, among
Dawson’s people. I opened the door, determined to leave tonight. I
was so determined I wasn’t paying much attention, and I almost ran
into Dawson. He was getting ready to knock on my door. My eyes
locked with his. I was frozen in place. His eyes had this effect on
me; I couldn’t move or speak. All my determination melted
away.

“
Is everything ok?” he
asked cautiously.

I watched him for a minute. I wanted
to tell him that I didn’t fit in here, and I was going back to my
old life. I wanted to just be able to walk away from him without a
second thought. No words came out. I just stood there staring at
him.

“
Larel, are you ok?” he
asked again, sounding a little worried.

“
I don’t know,” I said a
little breathlessly. All my resolve was suddenly gone. The second
his deep blue eyes met mine, I felt all the determination just melt
away, and I was back to being confused.

“
Mason said you had
something to tell me,” he said, sounding a little
unsure.

I watched him, trying to decide what
to say. I wished more than anything that I could figure out why I
had such a reaction to Dawson. He disarmed me, and I didn’t like
the feeling. I looked down, trying to find any reason to break eye
contact with him. When I was looking in his eyes I couldn’t say
what I wanted to say. “It is about Deek. He came by tonight. Mason
seems to think I would have hidden it from you, but I had no
intention of doing so,” I said softly, as I looked back up at
him.

His expression automatically darkened
at the mention of Deek. It was obvious he was not a fan of Deek at
all. “Why is he coming around? I need to know what he is telling
you,” Dawson said quickly, as he moved closer to me.

I looked at him, wide-eyed. He was so
close to me now. Any closer and his body would have been touching
mine. Everything Deek said was running through my head. I was
trying to put it together to tell Dawson something, but the words
would not come to me. The scent of his cologne, and the possibility
of him touching me, was overwhelming. I felt like I couldn’t
breathe; my heart was pounding in my head. My reaction to him was
getting more intense every time. “I… I… don’t know,” I said, moving
back away from him. I was trying not to stutter. I sounded
ridiculous. I mentally chided myself for letting him get to me. I
walked to the bed to retrieve the papers, and to put some distance
between us.

“
You don’t know?” he
asked, confused, as he moved further into the room.

“
I mean I don’t know what
he wants. He gave me these,” I said, offering him the papers. He
took the papers and scanned them. “It is something about sirens. He
seems to think it might have something to do with what I can do,” I
said, trying to put my thoughts into sentences. It was a little
easier now that I’d taken a couple steps away from him.

“
How does he know what you
can do?” he asked, looking a little worried. He was back to
watching me intently, as if the answers he was seeking were written
on my face. The way his eyes searched mine made it difficult for me
to focus.

I took a steadying breath as I turned
away. “He saw me talking to Carl.”

“
You mean he saw you order
Carl away,” he said sharply.

I looked at him, a little hesitant
because of his tone. I wasn’t sure if he was angry at me, or at
Deek. “That is what he said. I didn’t know he was watching
me.”

“
I know, I am not blaming
you,” he said, softening his tone. “I just hope you aren’t taking
him seriously. I am sure his motives are not genuine. He wants
something from you.”

“
Doesn’t everyone,” I said
dryly. I spoke before I thought about what I was saying. I didn’t
mean to come off so harsh, but it was too late.

His eyes widened, like he was startled
by my comment. “You don’t think I am trying to use you, do
you?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but
thought better of it. I closed my mouth and looked away. I didn’t
know what to say. I did think he was trying to use me. It was the
only logical explanation for what was going on.

“
Larel,” he said, sounding
worried, as he moved closer to me. He lifted my chin, making me
look up at him. “Tell me what you are thinking.”

“
I don’t know, I guess the
possibility crossed my mind. It just seems odd that you invited me
to stay for no reason. I figured, after you asked me to help you
deal with the humans, that was why you wanted me to stay,” I said
softly.