What Lies Inside (A Blood Bound Novel, Book 1) (22 page)

“Dorian!” I couldn’t hide the relief in my voice. “You scared me half to death.”

“Sorry,” Dorian said looking sheepish. He held out his hand, offering a full bottle of blood. “I heard you come in, and I was pretty sure you’d need this.”

I snatched the bottle and turned the cap before chugging down the contents. After my run, my body felt like it had been hit by a Mac truck. Though with the instant boost the blood provided, some of the aching in my limbs began to subside. “Thanks,” I said, swiping the back of my hand across my mouth.

“So, are you going in?” Dorian asked, visibly chewing the inside of his cheek. “Or do you plan to stand out here all night?”

Determined not to let this break me, I drew my body to full height, feigning stability. “No time like the present.”

I sucked in a deep breath and pushed the door open, eyes scanning around the room. Everything appeared to be in its rightful place, but there was one distinct difference. Earlier the bed’s covers had been a mess of purple-crumpled swirls. Now they were turned down with crisp and untainted linens of indigo and ultramarine.

With my heart squeezing, I swiveled back to Dorian. “
You
did this?”

“I didn’t want you to be reminded about what happened.” He shrugged and forced a smile. “I know this is really hard for you. And Amelia,” he said. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, and I hate to bring it up. But you need to know.” I braced against the doorframe and nodded. Dorian took in a sharp breath and exhaled with his next words. “Earlier when I stormed your room, I only found Ty. There wasn’t anyone else in here.”

My gaze slid sideways to my bed. The gut-wrenching events replayed in my mind. I could see her blond hair, hear the eerily familiar giggle, and remember the unusual pallor of her complexion. I had no idea who the girl was. But I did know
what
she was. My wide eyes skittered across the room, settling on my arched window. The dark-purple drapes were half-drawn and the glass panel sat wide open. That’s why Dorian didn’t find her in here. I turned back to Dorian, my eyes pleading. “Dorian, please, I need to be alone.”

Dorian, his jaw set and clearly not wanting to leave, simply nodded. “I’ll come see you in the morning.”

I watched him walk away, left with my thoughts, memories, and a realization that shook me to my very core.
Ty betrayed me for another vampire.

After standing in shell-shocked stillness for so long that I lost track of time, I shook myself back to consciousness. I closed the window and began to strip. First I kicked off my heel-snapped shoes. Mom was not going to be pleased. Then I peeled back the torn fabric of my chiffon dress, which clung to my body with sweat and melted snow. Then I stood before the full-length mirror backing my bathroom door. Patchy dirt marked my ivory skin. Snaking up my arms, legs, and even up my neck to cross my face were webbed, blackish-blue veins. It was a physical sign that my body was still greatly deprived of blood. Leaf litter tangled my hair like a nest. My face was a pasty shade of gray, with my irises surround by harsh bloodlines. Thinking of the many supernatural movies I’d watched over the years, I thought, this is what real monsters look like.

I sighed and my body tensed all over. The pain inside my chest still plagued me, like a tightening line of barbed wire with inch-long spikes. I sighed again and forced my body into the bathroom. The fluorescents were much too bright. Glare reflected off the white marbled tiles and floor, shooting pain into my eyes. I blinked away the discomfort. Then I turned on the hot tap inside the open-walled shower, and stepped onto the cobblestone tiles. If only the scalding water could burn away the image of Ty almost naked and rearing to enter that
slut
. Soap and hard scrubbing easily removed the debris from my skin, but nothing could rid me of the filthy aura that was draped over my mind and body. It weighed me down like a soggy, moldy towel. What made things even worse was that the burning water reminded me of Ty, of his heated touch, his smoldering lips pressed to mine, and the taste of his fiery-sweet blood.

In the end I gave up, and after a quick dry, slipped into satin shorts and a cotton tank top. If only I could fall asleep quickly. I hesitated in pulling back the vibrant covers and blinked, seeing the disgusting scene playing again. My stomach lurched with a twist. Then something caught my eye. In front of the glowing steel lamp on my side table was the jewelry box Uncle Caius had won at the auction. As I stared at the amethyst-encrusted box, my brow creased. Something about it was different. It was still as beautiful as I remembered. Except something was definitely missing. Then I knew. The magnetized draw I had experienced before the auction was gone. And the lid which had been jammed shut, now sat open with a flat card propped up inside. I gingerly retrieved the card, glimpsing the distinguishable scrawl of my uncle’s handwriting.

My Dearest Amelia,

I realize this gift does not make up for my recent absence, but after noting your admiration of this piece, I knew you would appreciate the sentiment. I do hope you will accept my gift as an apology, and a promise that soon we will have much time to share.

Love Always,

Uncle Caius.

P.S. The hinges were rather stiff, they will require oiling.

Feeling foolish over my earlier skepticism at Caius’s motives, I pressed the card to my heart. As I did, a gleam of light across metal flashed from inside the jewelry box. Within its mirrored lid and padded silk walls, was a small gold key. I plucked it out and twirled it between my fingers, eying the looped effect of its handle.

A remembered clang rose to the forefront of my mind. It was the moment before the auction when I had picked up the item and distinctly heard the movement of something within.

So that’s what was hidden inside. For some reason I felt disappointed. I replaced the card and closed the lid in a stiff motion that creaked and groaned, locking it with the key. It was just the key.

After gorging on half a block of chocolate from my bedside drawer, I forced my body under the soft, ultramarine quilt. An animated replay of every gut-wrenching detail plagued my mind. I saw their hands unrestrained and exploring, their lips connecting with labored breath. Worst was the way their bodies had screamed for one another. Each detail tightened the barbed wire around my heart and knotted my stomach.

Squeezing my eyes shut—so tight I that saw stars—I curled my body in on itself. I wished that alone could slow my mind and clear the sickening images. In actuality it did the opposite. Their sexual display brightened like a raunchy movie scene. Every muscle in my body tensed harder, aching to strip my mind clear. But I knew my efforts were futile. I couldn’t sleep here.

Pulling myself up from my bed, I rushed through my bedroom door and down the dark hallway. Nightlight filtered through the double-story windows of the foyer and past the marble balustrade. Sinister shadows slinked around me.

Ignoring the sliver of paranoia that was quickly creeping in, I stopped in front of the door to Kendrick’s room. My head dropped against the white-glossed wood. Inside, I felt disgusted with myself. How could I be so broken over someone I hardly even knew? But most of all, I hated that I needed Kendrick’s undying friendship, almost more than I needed air to breathe. My shoulders slumped with a sigh and I began to turn away.

“Amelia?” A crackled voice emerged through the closed door, causing my head to jerk up. The soft rustle of bedding reached my ears and a brighter glow of light shone from beneath the door. Quiet footsteps followed. The door opened and Kendrick stood rubbing his eyes. The glow of lamplight surrounded him like a full-bodied halo. “Hey, are you okay?”

Without meaning to, my eyes glided from the lean and toned muscles of his chest. Further down, cut lines dipped from his hips. I gulped. All he wore was a pair of black-cotton boxer shorts. Warmth radiated across my cheeks. I had never seen him so, well…naked, before.

“I’m sorry,” I croaked, shaking off the image of his bare chest, eyes darting away. “I didn’t mean to wake you. It’s just… I can’t sleep there.” I threw a glance back down the hall to my room. Tears were building in the corners of my eyes, and I hated it. I hated being so weak and so freaking vulnerable.

Kendrick’s hands found my shoulders and pulled me into his arms, hugging me tight. “Come on. You can sleep in my bed.”

Kendrick released me and I nodded with a sniffle. He took my hand and led the way. Past the white-leather couch draped with crumpled clothes, stood his oversized king bed. He shoved a snowboarding magazine out of the way and pulled back the covers. I clambered onto the mattress. Still holding tight to Kendrick’s hand I pulled him in behind me.

Kendrick resisted, freeing his hand from mine. “It’s okay,” he said, strained eyes shifting to the two-seater couch. “I’ll sleep there.”

Puzzled by his resistance, I frowned. Kendrick’s bed here was huge. While the couch would struggle to offer a comfortable sleep for me, let alone his over-inflated six-foot-two. Yet his comfort was not the only thing that encouraged my next words, or contorted my expression. “I’m afraid to be alone with my thoughts,” I confessed. “
Please
stay with me.”

Kendrick bit his lower lip. His face relaxed as he turned off his reading and bedside lights. “Amelia, I would do anything for you.” He lowered himself down into the bed, reclining sideways against the dark, satin pillows to face me. “Now get some sleep,” he ordered, leaning close to press his lips to my forehead.

“Thank you,” I breathed. With a forced a smile, I clasped his hand and pulled it over my shoulder, turning to face the other way. Kendrick’s arm tightened around me drawing me against his bare chest. His heart fluttered against my back. It felt strange to be this close to his almost naked body. It was new, I realized, this intimacy. We had always been close and unrestrained around each other. Yet somehow this was distinctly different. It was like our relationship had somehow graduated to a new level, a deeper level. And for everything in the world, I wouldn’t have changed this moment, or our friendship. Kendrick was a true friend, my best friend, and I loved him.

In the security of Kendrick’s comforting arms, sleep finally claimed my exhausted body. Though not even unconscious slumber could steal my mind and memory.

Frozen in wide-eyed horror, I stood in my room at the foot of my four-poster bed. Ty was before me, touching and caressing the pale girl in his arms. His head of glossy-black hair—with lips connected to hers—blocked her face from view.

It’s a dream, I told myself. My arms coiled around my body, nails digging into my sides hard enough to cut flesh. Please wake up. Please wake up. It didn’t work. Before me, my worst nightmare had come to life, and I couldn’t escape.

Desperate not to see them, I tried to look away. My body ignored my internal command, my head refusing to move. My eyelids were fixed open as if held by grotesque clamps. I tried to scream, to cry out for them to stop. Instantly my tongue felt swollen, my throat clogged up.

As ice-cold tears streamed down my immobile face, Ty’s lips moved, trailing down her neck and exposing her face. Vomit spiked my throat, burning with acidity. My eyes, now able to move again, fixed on hers. They were the same silvery-blue eyes of a vampire, of my own. The face I had expected to be alien was not. She had identical thin, pale lips, ivory skin, high cheekbones, and long, golden-blond hair.

Totally mystified, I stared at the now smiling and fanged reanimation of my own reflection.
The girl was…me.

~

After a night of repetitive nightmares that locked me inside my own living hell, I awoke with a start. Kendrick’s comforting arms had just been ripped from around my body.

“How dare you take advantage of her,” Dorian’s irate voice sliced through the air.

I lurched upright, heart hammering. Broad daylight poured from the open doorway and into Kendrick’s room. It coated every darkened shade of varying indigo, white and stained-hardwood in shimmering, rich tones. The unexpected brightness stabbed at my eyes, and I blinked rapidly. Darkened shapes coalesced, taking form right before me. Dorian, his face ablaze with indignation, was clutching Kendrick’s bicep. His grip was so tight that fat drops of blood escaped from cuts his fingernails had created. His free hand was balled into such a tight fist that his knuckles whitened. He looked seconds from belting Kendrick square in the face.

“It’s not what you think,” Kendrick said. His hands rose, palms facing forward in a clearly defensive gesture. “Nothing happened!”

Dorian’s eyes burned liquid silver as he raked Kendrick over with a look of disgusted disbelief. My best friend was still scarcely dressed in his boxers. Dorian’s fist rose, muscles twitching to life.

“It’s the truth!” I screamed. I scrambled from the bed, tangled sheets catching around my limbs and tripping me. It took only a split-second for me to right the fall. In the past such clumsiness would have sent me face first into the corner of the square-edged side table. But as my feet hit the mink-soft carpet, I instantly regretted the hasty movement. Lack of blood made my head light and I staggered with dizziness.

Kendrick tore his arm out of Dorian’s grasp, catching me before I crumpled to the floor.

“Get your hands off her,” Dorian snarled, voice piercing like road spikes through soft tire-tread. He jerked me back and out of Kendrick’s supporting hand.

“Cut it out, Dorian!” I tried to pry my arm from Dorian’s grasp. His grip tightened, hand squeezing like it was an extension of his hardened face. “Look, I couldn’t stay in my room. Not after what happened. Kendrick was being a friend. That’s all!”

Dorian released me so suddenly that I staggered back. He ran a tense hand over his face, which seemed to instantly disarm him. “Sorry man,” he said, glancing up at Kendrick. “I just thought… And after, well, yesterday…I guess I just lost it.”

The air around us diffused like the ash of a bomb blast settling. It seemed only I was left wide-eyed and somewhat confused by Dorian’s aggressive and out of character display.