What Lies Inside (A Blood Bound Novel, Book 1) (16 page)

Dorian smiled encouragingly. “Sure. I’ll just be a minute.”

With a
‘humph’
Marika turned abruptly, brushing past my shoulder and slinking away. The pungency of her perfume went with her.

I stormed over to Dorian and hauled him to his feet. “What the hell are you doing? Do you have the memory of a goldfish? I mean you were just at blows a half hour ago because of that girl. Now you’re getting all
friendly
?”

Dorian shrugged, a smug expression painting his face. “We were just talking.”

“Don’t treat me like I’m stupid,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him. “You know as well as I do that you weren’t
just talking
.”

Dorian folded his arms over his chest. “Why do you care, anyway?”

“Because that girl is trouble.” After tonight’s fight, and how quickly she’d ditched Troy for my brother, that was more than clear. The fact that she knew Ty didn’t help, either. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Hah,” Dorian laughed, throwing his head back. “You’ve gotta be joking.”

Dorian, as a rule, grew tired of any girl he dated in at most a couple of weeks. He never got attached. Yet even with the facts, something inside me screamed that this time would be different.

“Fine,” I said. “Just don’t come running to me when your heart finally gets broken.”

With a wave, Dorian brushed my concerns aside and pulled me down onto the stone bench. “So, what did Ty say? Did he explain?”

“Yes he did,” I said. Letting my worries about Marika get replaced by the nerves I had felt earlier, I sighed. “And I’ll tell you everything. But you have to promise to keep your mouth shut.” Dorian nodded in agreement. “I mean it, Dorian. No one can know, especially not Mom.”

Dorian crossed his hand over his heart and winked. “I promise. Now spill.”

“Okay, here goes.” I took a deep breath before looking up at Dorian’s suspense-filled eyes. “That guy you took on
is
as strong and as fast as we are. You could have been seriously hurt.” Dorian raised an eyebrow but remained silent, waiting. “They’re different from humans. Kind of like us.”

Dorian’s brow crinkled, suspense replaced by confusion. “Just tell me what they are, already.”

“Okay, okay. Ty and Troy are…” Clutching my hands together, I sucked in another deep breath. Please don’t flip out. “They’re lycans, werewolves.”

I sat in frozen silence watching my brother take in the heavy news. His eyes had grown wide. Then they narrowed like he was contemplating the possibility. “You’re being serious? They actually exist?”

I nodded feeling numb, my body tingling in wait for him to blow up.

“Wow,” Dorian exhaled on a long breath. His body was relaxed. His face revealed not a single ounce of tension.

A wave of relief washed down my tingling body. I had expected Dorian to blow up at the news, especially after his run in with Troy. But he was taking the revelation surprisingly well. Maybe too well.

Dorian’s face brightened into a cheeky smile. “So, my sister is dating a werewolf.” He chuckled, entertained. “I plan on having a front row seat when you tell Mom.”

I punched him in the arm, hard. “Don’t tease, and don’t forget. You promised!”

“I know, I know. My goldfish memory does tend to last longer than five minutes.” Dorian rubbed his hands together, looking devilish as he got to his feet. “Now, I’m off to catch up with the minx on the dance floor, before she gets
cold
waiting for me.” He took off in a light jog, disappearing back through the hedge’s arched entry.

After a few minutes of my mind reeling, I ambled back through the garden. Weight pulled at my insides. What I wouldn’t do for a piece of chocolate. But right now I had to find out more about this new girl. Who was she? How well did she know Ty? And what did she want with my brother? Just thinking about the commotion she had already caused filled me with anxiety. There was just something off about her. But what? I headed for the one person I suspected could enlighten me and hopefully diffuse my suspicion.

Ty was across the courtyard, propped atop a cube around the cane coffee table. He no longer sat in his dripping wet board shorts, now dressed in his jeans and thin hoodie. His bomber jacket was draped over one knee. I frowned. I had hoped to find him alone. Not luck there. Vanessa sat alongside in a stunning white dress, her blaze of hair like a warning beacon. They appeared to be playing a casual game of poker.

Ty—in the way he always did—sensed my approach and glanced up with a forced smile. Vanessa however, busy studying the cards in her hands, seemed unaware of my advance. Knowing now what Ty was, I detected an obvious air around him. He was strong and capable—a force to be reckoned with.

“How was Dorian?” The concern in Ty’s voice mirrored his apprehensive expression.

Vanessa was now aware of my presence and regarding me with clear speculation. I decided to keep my response short. “We had a good
chat
, and he seems fine.” I tugged my skirt down to keep from flashing anyone my still wet bikini bottoms then dropped onto the cube beside him and scanned for Dorian. There. Through the close-knit bodies that swarmed the dance floor, I could just make him out. Ick! He was all hands as he groped Marika’s sultry dancing body. With such a blatant sexual display, I almost expected Troy to come lunging from the shadows with murder painted in his eyes. I glanced around at the alcohol-sweating dancers. Not there. Then at the few kids playing what looked like ‘spin the blow-up dolphin’ within the pool’s crystalline water. Not there either. Thank God. I looked back to Ty. “Though, I did kind of catch him getting friendly with that new girl, Marika.”

Ty’s face dropped and his darkening eyes stared down at the cards in his hands.

The sinking sensation swelling up my stomach increased. The taste of his blood rose to the back of my throat. “She told Dorian she used to live here. Do you know her?”

“We all grew up together,” Vanessa offered. Her sapphire eyes sparkled with interest.

Ty’s forearms tensed and he glared at her. His hands clenched into fists, crumpling the cards scissored between his fingers.

“What Ty doesn’t want to say,” she continued, ignoring his hostile warning, “is that he used to date her. Well, before she dumped him for Troy.”

I sucked in a startled breath, eyes darting to Ty. A flurry of questions flooded my mind. Why didn’t he tell me? Had he loved her? Did he miss her? Did he want her back?

“Can’t you ever just butt out?” Ty growled at Vanessa, who shrugged with indifference. He collected the unharmed cards from the table and packed them into a square cardboard box. “How about I get you home,” he suggested, glancing up at me. “We can
talk
on the way. And besides, you do look beat.”

Wanting to be alone with Ty to get answers, I nodded. Besides, I could feel the brunt of the night’s events catching up with me. If Dorian got himself into trouble again, he’d have to get out of it on his own. “Okay.”

With a stiff nod from Ty to Vanessa, we retraced the path back around the house and out to Ty’s car. For the first time tonight, I noticed how truly cold it was. Frost had settled on every car and every blade of green grass. Thick fog hung in the air. Even with my superior eyesight I could barely see the outline of the front gates bordering the property.

Ty opened the passenger door to his car. I awkwardly slid into seat, tugging again on my skirt. A second later Ty was in the driver’s seat. He threw his jacket into the back and it landed on his training bag with a
clank
. That didn’t sound like goggles. Before I could ask what hard object he needed for swim practice, the engine roared to life. The radio murmured quietly.
Now the fifth vicious murder in under a fortnight…

Ty reached out with a frown and clicked the stereo off. Then he clasped my hand, the warmth of his touch radiating up my arm. “I know a lot has happened tonight. Not just between us, but also with Dorian and
Marika
.” His tongue scraped with unrestrained hatred over her name. “Are we okay? Did Dorian accept what I am?”

“Dorian took the news about you
surprisingly
well.” I studied Ty’s expression as I continued. “He seemed more consumed with getting to know Marika.”

Ty snatched his hand free to plunge the gear shaft into first. The car chirped, gliding through the fog and out the front gates. His hand found mine with a squeeze. “I’m sorry I didn’t mention her earlier.” He threw a quick glance my way. “I guess with everything else it just didn’t seem important.”

A sharp bend appeared through the swirling fog at the last second. Ty pulled his hand from mine—quick as a flash—and dropped back to second gear. The car made a squealing protest but clung to the road like a magnet.

Unperturbed and forcing the car back to top speed, Ty collected my hand and raised it to his heart. “Amelia, I want you to know that I want you, only you.”

The unusual beat of his heart soothed my worries, dissolving the clatter of questions clogging up my mind. I smiled, my muscles releasing all the tension of the night. Sleepiness weighed on my eyes. “Me too.”

~

I stood surrounded by ivory-tinted limestone and reaching cabinetry. The space was awash with brilliant-white chandelier light. It took only a second for me to realize that I was standing in our home’s kitchen. The limestone island, big enough it could double as a sacrificial altar, was proof enough. Yet knowing where I was didn’t dislodge the disorientation I felt.

Everything appeared to be in its rightful place, with dirty plates and blood-tinged glasses collecting on the marble counter next to the deep, round sink. But something was wrong. The persistent pounding of my heart made that crystal clear.

“How did you expect me to react?” My eyes shot to my mom, whose strained voice had startled me. Natural poise abandoned, her hands clenched into fists and belted down against the counter top. The force sent a sunburst of hairline fractures straight through the limestone. “When you’re seeing that…that filthy mongrel?”

Acid spiked the back of my throat.
She knows
. I felt like vomiting. But an uncontrollable fury at her insult of Ty ignited within me. “Don’t speak about Ty like that. You know nothing of what he is.”

Mom shook her head almost regrettably. She stepped around the island to lay a gentle hand over my shoulder. “Amelia, sweetheart, you know this must end.”

Violently, I threw my hands in the air, batting her arm away. I opened my mouth to scream in protest. Nothing came out.

Panic seeped through my core as everything faded to blackness. Restricting arms tightened around me. “Let me go!” I tried to scream, thrashing to get free.

“It’s okay,” a deep and familiar voice spoke. “It’s just me.”

My eyes blinked open as my back connected with something soft. The constricting arms around me released. I couldn’t see. Pins shot through my eyes while my lids fluttered. The room slowly lightened. Through blurred and spotted vision, varying shades of purple grew more and more prominent as my senses awakened. Warmth bloomed beside me, along with the sound of an irregular heartbeat.
Ty.
I struggled to focus. “What happened? Where are we?”

Ty’s hands found mine. “You fell asleep on the way home. I didn’t want to wake you, so I carried you up to your room.”

It was just a dream. I frowned, my eyes finally clearing. Ty was sitting before me, framed by the mauve-swathed posts of my princess-style bed. His brows arched in surprise. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s your eyes,” Ty said, covering his expression. “Your whites, they’re completely red.”

I flung my legs over the edge of the bed and rummaged through my nightstand. In a second I’d passed my stashed chocolate and recovered a palm-sized mirror. My reflection shocked me. The blue of my irises looked similar to when I drank blood, completely silver. Though right now there was a stark difference. The whites of my eyes when I drank blood usually became rimmed with red. I had seen the reaction when drinking packaged blood at the cabin. But now, without having consumed anything since the party,
since Ty
, they appeared completely stained with the crimson of fresh blood. Confused, I shook my head. “It must be a latent reaction to your blood.” As I stared at my reflection, the red slowly faded back to white. Thank God. Yet I was far from feeling relieved. Something was still nagging at me, filling me with unquenchable dread. “Wait! How did you get inside, I mean, when you brought me home?”

“Your mom let me in,” Ty replied, his tone level and devoid of concern.

The air suddenly tasted stale. I coughed, gagging, and began to hyperventilate. “You met my mom!” Oh my God, it’s happening. My dream is coming true.

“Hey.” Ty leaned in, rubbing his warm hands vigorously up and down my shaking arms. “What’s wrong?”

“You met her, and now she knows.” I struggled not to scream. “She knows what you are.”

Ty shook my arms, forcing me to look at him. “No, she doesn’t. When you fell asleep I took something to mask my scent. I’m certain she had no idea.”

I sniffed the air. Ty was right. His scent was gone. Still, his words did little to shake the memory of my dream and the disappointment hedging Mom’s expression. “How can you be so sure?”

He smiled, taking a deep breath. “Because, I could hear her heart beat.”

I frowned. How could Ty’s detection of her beating heart prove anything?

“It didn’t elevate,” he explained. “If she were suspicious, lying, or in any way trying to hide something, her heart would tell.”

I slumped back against the many fluffy pillows adorning my bed. “It was just a dream?”

Ty’s rough hand grazed my cheek. “Sounds more like a nightmare.”

Suddenly I became aware of his proximity. Not to mention that we were alone in my bedroom, on my bed. He sat facing me, one knee folded with his free hand resting against it. There was only an inch separating his fingers from the bare flesh between my hiked-up short skirt and knee-high boots. Memory rushed of those very hands clutching my thighs and lifting me off the ground with such easy strength.

Blood heated my cheek under the warmth of Ty’s palm. He edged forward, brushing his sweltering lips against mine. “I’m going away tomorrow. I won’t be back till sometime next week.”