5 Darkness Falls (24 page)

“I love no one. That’s the first rule of living in a ruthless world.”

“No.” I shook my head. “You love Jewel. I may be ignorant on many issues, but I saw the way you looked at her, the way your features softened
.
You pressed your lips
tenderly,
reverently against her head. Vampires don’t have children, as you just confirmed. You make them, but you train them hard, you don’t handle them with
kid
gloves.”

Her eyes
became
dark pools of anger. Her wheels were spinning.

“The way I see it, I can run
and
get that five minute head start, which is plenty of time to call all of my military contacts and alert them of not only your location, but the precious woman you love. A loved one for a loved one, right? You want Lexi, so I’ll make sure you lose Jewel.”

She balled her hands into fists
on
the arms of the chair. She
tightened
her jaw,
puckering
her features. “This is the biggest form of rebellion there
is
. You should run. Run hard,
and
run fast. But know that you’ll never run fast enough to
be by
her side in time.”

A
cell phone
materialized
from a hidden compartment in her outfit. She pressed a single button. I heard the digits play out before the first ring sounded. A man answered; his accent was heavy. “Take your first shot at her.”

My chest caved; my lungs refused to expand.

She closed the phone and stared directly into my eyes. “Run, Kellan.
Run
.”

Chapter 21

Lexi

“You feeling okay?” Kai asked, leaning against the arm of the couch as he inspected me.

“Yeah, thanks.” I smiled.

“Would you stop interrupting the movie to ask her that?” Mel griped. She shoved a handful of popcorn into her mouth, completely riveted by the romantic comedy she’d selected from Redbox on our way home.

“Why do you need to watch this? You have the real thing with Craig.”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s not the same. Craig d
oesn’t
do half the things this guy does.”

“Reality will never be fiction, Mel.”

She sighed,
turning
off the TV. She set the popcorn on the coffee table and faced me and Kai. “Really, Lex? Because while maybe not all the plot points of your life are a fiction bestseller, I’d say you’ve had a pretty good run
so
far. You got the hot guy while you were chunky, got engaged on Christmas day to the same hot guy.
Then
,
you went on a top-secret double-oh-seven mission and roped in another hot guy to drool over you
,
creating a rather interesting love triangle.
Then
,
the first hot guy knocked you up, but stuck around and has surprised you with a house full of flowers, a renovated kitchen and is out there fighting for you
r safety
right now while you’re
getting even
coz
ie
r
with the second hot guy over here. Oh, and I forgot the other
fascinating
layer of awesome; you’re part vampire, which
happens to be
a popular paranormal twist. Oh, and it’s no big deal, but you have an army of them that you rule over too
,
all while
successfully
playing Miss Betty Crocker
.
So, would you like to tell me again that reality will never be fiction?” There was a storm brewing in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” I frowned.

“Oh, gee, now you ask. You get sick, are forced to take some down time and finally have enough time to notice that something’s off with me. That’s wonderful, Lex.
Very reassuring.
”

“I’m sorry. What do you want me to do? I have a job
.
I can’t put everything on hold to have a personal life.”

“Well, then I do feel sorry for you because one day you’re going to want that time, but you won’t have anyone left to spend it with.” She abruptly stood. “Maybe you haven’t thought about this aspect either, but is this the same excuse you’re going to tell th
e
baby every time it cries for its mother?”

“Hey!” Kai growled, getting in Mel’s face. “Back off
on
that one.”

What happened? How did everything flip so quickly? Just earlier she was talking about being there through everything. Now she was angry and snatching the words back in a round-about way. “Mel, talk to me.”

“My relationship isn’t all love and roses, okay, Lexi?” Tears welled in her eyes. “I want what you have
,
so bad. Hell, I’d even take the knocked up part. But I’m not you. I’m not lucky enough to be Lexi Jackson, Miss Perfect Life.” She pressed her lips into a straight line.

“Move, Kai.” I pushed him away as I got up.

I
held
her shoulders. “Hey. We’re best friends, through thick and thin; in good times and bad, even when the bad times mean we neglect each other. I’m sorry. I can’t change the past, but I’m here now.”

All of her anger melted into sadness.
She
trembled
as tears
streamed down her face. “We…”
Her lip
quivered. “We can’t…” Her face twisted. “We can’t do the deed.”

Her hands flew to her face; she sobbed into them
uncontrollably
.

I
pulled
her into my arms, hugging her tightly. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to love someone and never be able to
experience
their love in every way.

I held her, the way she held me when my grandmother passed. She cried hard and long; she broke
down
in my arms like I’d never seen her do before.

Her body shook
;
her cries
rang out in
gut-wrenching gasps. I could almost hear her screaming,
‘Why me?’

“Hey, how about we order pizza
,
and we can watch as many romantic comedies as you want?”

She sniffed several times, lifting her face to peer at me. “I like the pizza part. The last part is just
too
depressing.”

I
giggled.
“Alright. We’ll order pizza and think of something else to do.”

“Truth or dare!” she popped out of my arms, her eyes suddenly drying.

“Um, okay.” I fidgeted. This was a bad idea. I was almost sure of it.

“Yay!” she squealed.
“
Drex and Kai have to play too
;
otherwise
,
it won’t be as
much
fun.
”

I looked at Kai. He shrugged. Apparently he was in. “Drex!”

He came out of his room,
narrowing
his eyes on Mel. “You’re going to pay for wrangling me into this game.”

She laughed. “Bring it on, tough guy.” She bounced up and down dragging me over to the dining table. “I volunteer Lexi to go first!”

“Gee, thanks,” I droned.

Kai gave me a slick smile, winking.

“Truth or dare, Lex?” she asked. She seemed ready to burst; her eyes were wide with excitement.

I bit my lower lip. I’d never been a fan of this game. The truth questions were ultra personal and the dares were ridiculous stunts that no one should perform. “Um, truth.”

“Ooh!” She nibbled her lip,
looking devilishly
around the table. “If you weren’t with Kellan, would you be with Kai?”

I’d never wanted to smack her more. She
buried
the knife
deep in my back
with that one. That was the one subject I’d wanted to avoid.

My embarrassment began to show,
as I averted my gaze. “Yes.”

“I knew it!” she yelled.

I chanced a
peek
at Kai. He had a goofy grin on his face; his eyes were sparkling with
a strong
emotion
, unidentifiable at the moment
.

“My turn!” Mel was like an energy bomb tonight.

I shook my head, snapping myself out of it. “Truth or dare?”

“Hm
m
…Dare!”

“Uh…I kind of always sucked at this game, especially with making up dares. Plus, there isn’t much a vamp can’t do.”

“Make her kiss my bare behind for making me play this game,” Drex
offered.

I laughed; just the thought alone was good
enough
.

Mel sobered quickly, crossing her arms over her chest. She gave Drex what I called her
Popeye
face, one eye squint
ing
while the other just gl
owered daringly.
“That is
so
not cool.”

“Sounds good to me.
” I smiled.
“
That’s your dare.”

She frowned. “I am
so
disowning you.” She
stormed
out of her chair and went over to Drex. “Stand up and bare it,” she ordered.

“You have to record this, Baby C
akes.” Drex passed me his iPhone.

I stood up, moving
over
to the side to capture the whole thing on video.

“Eww!
U
h! Gah!
Ble
h!
” Mel swiped at her lips. “I can’t believe I just kissed his ass
literally
.”

“Just
one
cheek,” I said.

“At least it wasn’t hairy
- or
worse
-
I could have been human
:
and farted on you.”

That got a reaction from her. “Uh! Gross!”

Kai snickered,
amusement
flickering
in
his eyes
.

“You think it’s funny?” Mel turned
to
him.

“Yeah.” He didn’t flinch.
“I do.”

“Fine. Truth or
Dare,
Kai?” She crossed her arms
,
standing beside the table so she was a tad taller than him as he sat.

“Dare.” He bravely faced her, not budging an inch at her challenge.

“I dare you
…
to
lick
Lexi’s swollen pregger feet.”

“What?” I shrieked. “I cannot believe you.”

She smiled proudly. “I can’t believe myself either, but it’s a frickin’ frackin’ brilliant dare.”

I eyed her sideways. “You’ve been hanging out with Craig too long.”

“Get moving, Kai. I
am
so
uploading
this.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket
, moving to get a better view.

Kai swished me sideways in the chair
, his
eyes bor
ing
into me. He knelt down in front of me and lifted my foot upwards so my leg was straight.

I squirmed, steeling myself.

His expression was playful, but there was something just beyond
,
something just beneath his surface that had my heart
beating a little faster.

He bent his head
backwards
and placed his tongue a
gains
t the back of my heel
.
Lightly pressing, the warmth of his mouth left
a trail
as he made his way to the tips of my toes.

It tickled, but more than anything, he was sending
shivers
through
out
my
entire
body.
A tremor touched my core
as h
is kisses
gently slid
from toe to
toe. Thank God they were clean.

I knew my face was red when he gently released me. “I can’t believe you did that.” I laughed.

“And I got it all on video,” Mel announced.

I
pouted
my
bottom
lip. “Come to think of it I don’t have any pictures of any of you guys. Well, I have an old one of us, Mel.”

“Oh! We should take pics. Come on.” She yanked me from the chair and pulled me towards the kitchen island. “Kai, come
snap
a pic of me and the momma-to-be.”