A Man of Honor (A Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (The Honor Trilogy) (6 page)

At home in my apartment, I practice taking blood from myself using the paraphernalia we swiped from the blood bank. Aside from making a bloody mess on my kitchen table, by the seventh or eighth time, I finally find success. Cleaning up everything takes some time, but I put the stuff in a box and set it aside for later.

My intention now is to research how to at least
fake
a base for this friggin’ elixir. It’s ridiculous how many sites offer recipes for immortal potions. If they really worked, wouldn’t they be selling the stuff for a mint instead of posting to the world the entire ingredient list? Plus, not one recipe I find has the same list. I jot down a few ingredients that look easy enough to pick up locally and then set out to find them.

An organic whole food market in Butler may have most of the raw ingredients, but I may have to find a Chinese store for the others. Hopefully the guy in Butler will know where to send me.

My cell rings on the way down to the store.

“Yeah?” I don’t recognize the number.

“Storm. It’s Tom.”

“Hey. What’s up?”

“I’m not sure if you spoke with Ethan today, but Elijah’s taking the red-eye up from Florida tonight.”

He pauses, probably waiting for my reaction. “Oh. Good.”

“So what’s the plan?” Tom asks.

“I need their blood as soon as possible. I have no idea when someone’s
gonna pay me a visit again, so I want to have something to give them.”

“Right. Did we get everything you need to take the blood? Do you even know how?”

“I’ve been practicing on myself, but yeah, I should be able to do it. I just wish there were more empaths around.”

“Why can’t you use just anyone’s blood along with it? How will they know?”

I hope Tom isn’t as stupid as his nephews are. “Tom, they’re smart. I’m sure they’ll test it. That’s why I’m even going so far as to add some organic herbs as a base. This way, maybe they won’t figure it out for years…when they realize those they gave it to are not actually immortal.”

Tom laughs. “I hope it works.”

“Yeah. Me too. I figure they’re not really gonna know for sure if it’ll make them immortal for at least twenty years or so…I hope. I don’t know, Tom.” I sigh. “I’m grasping at straws here.”

“Well, it’s better than nothing, kid.”

“Yeah.”

“We’ll all be over in the morning. You stay calm, ‘
kay?”

“
Mmm. Catch ya later.”

The dude at the health food store knows his shit, I’ll tell ya that. He has the wild reishi I need, the chaga mushroom, and the Chinese coriander. The only items I need to get are the
ho shou wu
, the deer antler tincture, and the turkey tail, which he said I could get at the Chinese produce market down the highway.

By the time I’m finish
ed picking up the rest of the items and get home, Tamlin’s sitting on my front step.

“Hey, Tam. What’s up? Everything okay?” I ask, getting the bags out of my car.

“Yeah.” She jumps up to help with the bags and follows me upstairs.

“Then what’s going on?” The grumbling in my stomach hits as soon as my brain registers why she’s here.

“Ethan went straight to Honor’s, so I thought I’d come here.”

Crap. “Oh.”

“So whatchya got there?” Tamlin watches me place my funky purchases on the table.

“Um…” I know I don’t want Honor finding out that Gaffer’s after us still, but it’s doubtful that Tamlin will tell her. She loves her as much as I do. “It’s stuff.”

“Stuff.”

Pulling out a seat for her to sit, I do the same for myself. “Listen, Tam. You cannot say a word to Honor about this.”

She makes an
X
across her heart and holds up the two fingers on her right hand.

“There are men after her grandfather’s elixir.”

“That’s old news, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but they’re looking for it. They want me to hand it over.”

“When?”

“I have no idea…but soon. If they don’t get it, they’re going after Honor herself.”

“Then hand it over,” she says, looking at me like I’m crazy for not thinking of that myself.

“I can’t. Ethan dumped it.”

“
He what!?
” Tamlin’s dropped jaw and raised brows mimic my feelings about the whole thing.

“Stupid. Right?” Leaning back on my chair, I open the refrigerator and grab a can of soda. I slide it across the table to Tamlin and reach back to get myself one.

“What was he thinking?” She pops the lid and takes a sip.

“I really don’t know. I think he was trying to do what Honor wanted.”

“Honor wanted to dump it?” Tamlin shakes her head.

“Yeah.” I sigh. “She didn’t want it to get into the wrong hands.” I ponder this a moment.
Was
he just trying to do right by Honor? “Anyway, it’s gone, and I’m trying to concoct a new elixir.”

Tamlin’s hand flies to her chest. “You know how to make an immortal elixir?”

“I think all that dye and bleach on your head has seeped into your brain. No. I do not know how to make an immortal elixir. I’m faking it…to fool them.”

It’s cute how her head jerks back in laughter. “Oh,” she continues cracking up, “I was
gonna say…”

“Anyway…I need to make it at least
seem
real. I’m sure they’ll test it.” Squeezing the bridge of my nose, I realize how tense I am. The thought that I may not pull this off leaves me on edge. There’s not much time to do this, yet for me, time moves backwards – like in a dream when you’re trying to run but you can’t get your legs to move.

“Storm.” Tamlin nudges my elbow, and I drop my hand to the table. “You look worried. You think it’s not
gonna work?”

We stare into each other’s eyes, and she reads the truth – no, I do not think this will work. But Honor’s life depends on it, so I
need
to make it work.

Tamlin pushes away from the table and slowly approaches me. Standing behind me, her hands feel cool on my neck. Her firm touch begins to ease the tightness there. In slow circular movements, her thumbs press the knots I wasn’t aware I had. I take a breath and inhale. It feels
so good. As she continues massaging my neck and shoulders, I drop my head forward, encouraging her to continue. A guttural groan escapes my throat, and I realize I’m enjoying Tamlin’s touch. Again.

Her hands slip underneath the front collar of my shirt, and her fingertips play with the hair on my chest. I caress the back of her hand and stand up. Still touching her hand, I turn to face her and lift my other hand to her face. Her lips taste like cherries, and at the same time she kisses me, her hands fall to the hem of my shirt. She lifts it over my head then continues running her hands over my chest.

She tastes so good, I don’t want to stop. As her hands slide to my back, warm tingles flutter over my skin. Though I’m afraid to lead her on, I press my body closer to hers. Her hips grind into mine, and I’m unsure if she’s sending out signals to do what I think she wants to do. Her shirt slides off easily. After tossing it on the floor, I wrap my arms around her back and push her gently toward the couch, not breaking lip contact as I do so.

Tamlin falls to the couch and
scooches herself against the arm. She lifts her legs, wraps them around my waist and pulls me down on top of her. My hips dance on top of hers, but when I move my lips to kiss her neck, I get a glimpse of the joy I see on her face. Despite the fact that her eyes are closed, ecstasy shows in her cheeks. With an abrupt stop, I get up and sit on the other end of the couch. She opens her eyes and licks her lips.

“What is it?” she asks, understandably confused.

“We’re going too fast. I think we need to slow it down a bit,” I lie.

“Storm.” She sits up and moves next to me, placing her hand on my knee. “You’re twenty-two years old. Surely you’ve done this before.”

I snap my head towards her. “Of course I have,” I lie again. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea. With us. Not yet.”

I see disappointment sweep across her face.

“I’m not saying
ever
,” I do like Tamlin. I’m just not sure how much. “Just…right now. Let me sort all this stuff out first, then maybe…”

“You mean…get over Honor? Then I’ll have a chance?”

A huge sigh escapes from my throat this time. “Something like that.”

She nudges me with her elbow. “Okay, but just don’t take too long. I won’t wait forever.”

I look at her, smile, and drape my arm around her, pulling her into me. “Why are you so cool? There aren’t many girls like you around.” And I mean it this time. Tamlin is cool. Maybe if I could get over Honor, she and I
would
have a chance.

After a restless night’s sleep, I drag myself to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. Even the lazy energy of a Saturday morning is lost on me. I can’t enjoy it, knowing what’s ahead today. Concocting some
freakin’ elixir.
With Ethan’s blood
. It just doesn’t sit well in my gut. I want nothing to do with the guy, yet I
need
him. I need him to help
his
girlfriend, whom
I
love. Sometimes I want to throw up my hands to this whole thing, grab Honor, and take off. But she would never go for that. Not only would she never leave her parents, she’d probably never leave Ethan. Which sucks. For me.

As I sip my coffee, I contemplate running over to Honor’s and declaring my love for her. Of course, my
flippin’ brother lives with her now. Like he
needs
to be there. He thinks he’s protecting her? No. Sleeping in Honor’s guest room is not protecting. Coming up with a solution to this messed up elixir issue is protecting her. She wouldn’t even need protecting if he didn’t
dump
the original.

Coffee splatters everywhere when I slam it down on the table. Sitting here feeling sorry for myself is getting me nowhere. After wiping the coffee mess off the table, I gather the stuff I bought yesterday and lay
it all out in front of me.

The pot I use for boiling my ramen noodles is the biggest pot I own, so I pour the spring water I got from the running stream on Berkshire Valley into it. One by one, I add all the ingredients, leaving the deer antler tincture and turkey tail for last, like the website instructed. The elixir base smells horrid, but I can only imagine the stench once I add the blood. Yuck.

At that thought, the doorbell rings. It’s Hunter and his Uncle Tom and a face I haven’t seen in years. Though Elijah is looking more and more like the fifteen-year-old man he’s become, his face still resembles the five-year-old boy I remember. That…and he’s the spitting image of my father.

“Storm,” Tom starts, “this is Eli. I’m not sure if you remember him.”

Without taking my eyes from his face, I nod. “Yes. I do,” I say softly. I’m embarrassed by the way my father’s face haunts me. He loved these boys.
Left me for them.
The blood is pooling in my wrists. It must be, because my hands are clenching so tightly that I’m sure no blood is reaching them. My teeth start to ache from grinding them. Elijah had nothing to do with my father’s betrayal, yet the anger inside me races through my veins faster than a tornado races through a flat land.

Forcing myself to close my eyes and get my father’s image out of my head, I turn away and walk back to the kitchen.

A huge hand rests on my shoulder. “What was that?” Tom asks.

“Nothing.”

“
That
was nothing?” He squeezes my shoulder and pulls out two chairs. “Sit,” he demands. “He’s a ringer for your dad, isn’t he?”

With a reluctant nod, I sit but say nothing.

“Don’t blame the kid, he barely remembers your father.”

Unfortunately…I do. But I still don’t say a word.

“Your dad loved you, y’know. He just…he didn’t love your mom anymore. That’s all.”

“That’s
messed up,” I finally respond. “He left me for
her
…” I toss my head in the direction of the living room. “And
them
.”

“No. He left your mother for their mother. You
chose
to see it the other way.”

Tom covers my forearm with his hand. It’s funny, but I can actually feel him taking the hurt away. It’s a strange sensation. Aside from Honor bringing me back from the dead, no one’s ever done that for me before. No one’s ever been able to
touch
me.

“Don’t take your hate out on your brothers. They
are
your brothers, whether you think of them that way or not.”

He gets up and pours himself a cup
of coffee. “And this thing with Ethan…drop it…he may have Honor now, but I see the way she looks at you. Step back. Give it some time. I’m pretty sure you’re the one she wants.”

Tom sits back down, sips his coffee, and peers at me from over his mug. When he slaps the near empty mug down on the table, he has a lop-sided grin pasted on his face. “Give the boy a break though. Don’t tell him. Let him figure it out himself.
”

I go get my own coffee, and with my back to Tom, I can’t help but smile. I hope to God he’s right.

**

Sticking needles in my brothers’ arms is satisfying
, to say the least. Though sticking Ethan’s arm would feel even better…if he were here.

“Where’s Ethan?” I ask, his name tasting like vinegar on my tongue.

The boys shrug.

“He knew he was supposed to be here at noon,” Uncle Tom says.

Yeah. If I got to wake up in the next room from Honor every day, I wouldn’t be able to leave either. It pisses me off.

“Well, the loser better get her
e soon,” I demand…to nobody. “I need to get started on combining all this.”

“We can’t start without him?” Eli asks.

“I guess. I just…I really need strong empath blood, and well, the loser’s is unfortunately the strongest,” I say reluctantly, “we have right now.”

“Why? What makes
him
so strong?” Eli asks, quite defensively.

After an involuntary snort, I respond. “Your loser brother actually killed two people recently.”

“What?”

Uncle Tom jumps in. “Two of Gaffer’s men were after them. One of ‘
em killed Storm. Ethan shot them both.”

Eli’s eyebrows are now about an inch higher on his forehead. “Ah, now I see why you call him loser – you’re jealous. Gotcha.”

The knife on the table is the closest thing to me, so I grab it. Instinctively raising it to my shoulder, I point it at Eli and plunge it right into the table. I walk out of the kitchen and straight out my door, leaving the knife standing upright on the table.

“Great,” I mutter to myself, throwing up my hands in a huff. Ethan’s here…with the empty elixir jugs. Not interested in talking to him right now, I duck out through the side of the house. If I let my temper get the best of me,
I’d be failing Honor. I lean against the side of the house and slide down until I’m sitting on my ass, my knees at my chest.

How did I get here?
My curiosity about the legendary Honor Robinson and my distaste and distrust for the son of the bastard who broke up my family got the best of me. I should have never stepped foot in Jefferson Township. And now I can’t leave. Not until I see this thing through – save Honor, then get the hell out.

Hopefully taking Honor with me.