Blood Awakening (14 page)

“Don’t say that,” I said, praying more tears wouldn’t reveal themselves. “Please, don’t say you don’t need me.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Might as well get used to going through this life or whatever it is on my own,” he said, the tiny muscles of his jawline flexing beneath cold, dead skin.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked in shock.

“Well, once you become human again, the last thing you’re gonna want is to be around me. You practically said so when I asked you to be with me.”

“I did not!” I had zero intentions of yelling at him, but my vamp side was tickling my skin, itching to be set loose, so my emotions were super heightened. I took a deep breath to calm down. “I never said I didn’t want to be with you, Chance.”

“Yeah, well, you never said you wanted to, either.”

He had me there.

“I…I can’t answer that yet. I’m sorry.”

It felt like a lifetime before he spoke again. “I know,” he finally said, his voice as broken as my heart. Another long pause, then, “I gotta go, okay? Couple of things I need to do before we head to Boston.” He stared at me a moment—almost as if he wanted to say more, or reach out and touch me again—before turning and walking through the front door of Kayla’s house as though we had never talked, had never even seen one another. As hard as I was trying not to, I was slowly losing him.

“You’re kidding, right?” Kayla asked, practically dragging me into the quiet of the empty kitchen. “Sebastian? You actually invited him?”

“Yes, I actually invited him,” I answered, my fingers playing with the fringed placemat on the kitchen counter.

“I can’t believe you did this, Ava. Seriously. This is like…the dumbest thing you’ve ever done.” She crossed the room to the fridge and fished out two Diet Cokes, placing one in front of me and popping the top on the other. I just stared at the can, tiny beads of condensation forming on the rim. “That man nearly killed all of us. And you decide we should all be friends?”

“No, it’s not like that.” I stretched my aching fingers. “Have you been talking to Chance?”

“Why, does he think your idea blows, too?” She gulped the soda like it was to be her last.

“It doesn’t blow,” I finally said, releasing the pent-up air in my lungs. “If you two would just chill out for a second, you’d see that.”

“I could chill out forever and I’d never get it, Ava. Sebastian killed Chance’s mom. He killed Lila. He almost killed us. Am I missing anything?”

“He’s bad, I get it.”

“Hello, understatement of the year.”

“Don’t you think that if something goes wrong, he’ll come in handy?”

She cut her eyes over at me. “No. I don’t.”

“Well, I do. That’s why I told him to help us.”

“Told him? He’s just gonna do what you told him to, huh? Just like that?”

“Yeah, I guess.” I knew that wasn’t true, not entirely. I think Chance had it right when he said Sebastian had ulterior motives for agreeing to help us. I just had no clue what those motives were.

“I don’t buy it.”

“Chance didn’t, either.”

“That’s because he has a brain. And so do I. You’re the one I’m not too sure about right now.” She tossed her empty soda can into the trash and eyed mine; reluctantly, I opened it and took a sip, the ice-cold contents chilling my throat. “I think we should maybe swing by the hospital before we leave town,” she went on.

“Why?”

“Because you clearly need a CAT scan.”

I rolled my eyes and gulped more soda. “Be serious, Kayla.”

“I am being serious, Ava. This is gonna end badly. I just know it.” I finished off my soda (guess I was thirstier than I thought), trying my best not to dwell on her words. First Chance, now Kayla…did both of them think our trip to Boston was doomed?

“You don’t know that,” I said, my voice scratchy from the carbonation. “You’re just being paranoid.”

“A who-knows-how-old vampire who tried to kill everyone we know is gonna be hanging out with us for the weekend. Yeah, definitely just paranoid.” I sat in silence as she popped a couple of slices of bread into the toaster and fished ham and sandwich trimmings out of the fridge along with another Diet Coke. No matter the situation, this girl’s mind was always on food. “You’re the one not thinking straight, Ava.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because,” a quick pause to snag the toast, “have you even considered what could go wrong with Sebastian being there?” A quick dip in the mayo. “I mean, what are you gonna do if Chance goes all Avengers on him and tries to stake him or something?” She finished building her sandwich and sat down at the bar. “Or what if Erik does?”

“That’s not gonna happen,” I said, alternating my gaze between the large French doors leading into the backyard and the food on her plate. Even though her sandwich looked really good, the thought of actually eating something turned my stomach. I was too wound up from the crazy day I’d had to even consider it.

“Now who’s suddenly so sure about something?”

“I am sure. Chance knows Sebastian is going along, and he’s come to terms with it.”

“Or maybe he’s just pretending to until he can get Sebastian alone.”

“He’s not stupid, Kayla. He wouldn’t try anything when he knows he’d never win.”

“If someone killed your mom, what would you do?” She asked the question amid bites of sandwich, scarfing down her food like it was a last meal.

“Probably nothing, since she abandoned me when I was little.” It was one of the few times I mentioned my mother out loud, and just the thought of her made me angry. I hated a woman I had never even met.

“You know what I mean,” Kayla said, swallowing the last bite of sandwich and turning her can of soda up into the air as she gulped half of it down. “If you were Chance, and had an awesome mom like Mrs. Caldon was, what would you do if someone hurt or killed her? Especially if you were suddenly supernaturally strong and immortal?”

Hello, point. “So you think Chance will try to kill Sebastian while we’re in Boston?”

“I’m just saying you need to be careful, that’s all.” She got up from the bar and took her plate to the sink, downing the rest of her soda. “And you need to keep a close eye on Chance at all times.”

“He can barely stand being in the same room with me, Kayla. How am I supposed to watch him?”

“I don’t know, but you gotta figure it out before we leave. Because when he sees Sebastian again, you know what’s gonna happen.” And I knew she was right. Somehow, I knew. Chance had all but told me that he wouldn’t stop until Sebastian was dead for real. I was about ready to climb out of my skin because of the stress relentlessly piling on top of me when the doorbell chimed.

“You expecting somebody?” I asked as Kayla tossed her second can into the trash and headed to the front of the house.

“Nope,” she said, though not very convincingly. She opened the front door before I got to it, so I saw the bright pink box and flowers before Erik stepped into view. “Aww,” Kayla fake-swooned, “you shouldn’t have!” She clutched her chest and batted her eyes and I wanted to kick her in the shins.

“I didn’t,” Erik said, smiling. He turned to face me, kicking the door closed with his foot. “They’re for you.” He extended the flowers and the pink box toward me, but all I could do was stare at him.

“W-What?” I stammered. “Why?” I was trying not to sound totally confused.

“Well,” Kayla interjected, stepping around Erik and taking the box from his hand, “we decided that since no one really knows when your birthday is, we thought we’d pick a day.” She was smiling from ear to ear, practically bouncing in place.

“And that day’s today,” Erik said over her shoulder. “So happy birthday, Ava.”

My birthday?

They planned a surprise birthday party? For me? The word overwhelming didn’t cover it. “Wow,” I finally said, the words caught in my throat. “I-I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you like chocolate cake.” Kayla stepped past me and back into the kitchen, placing the cake box on the counter where she had just inhaled her lunch.

“So that’s why you ate your sandwich like you’d been starved for six weeks? Because of this?”

“Bingo,” she said, pulling a large knife from the dishwasher. She flipped the top of the cake box, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Cute,” I said, staring down at my very first birthday cake (that I could remember)—a set of realistic-looking fangs tipped in red.

“I thought you’d like it.” Erik had moved in behind me, so close I could feel his breath on my bare shoulder. I was really liking this birthday.

“Did you?” I said, trying to ignore the scent of his blood that was blending oh-so-well with the smell of sugary cake icing and flooding my senses. “You picked this out?”

“Guilty.” Erik reached an arm around me and lifted the cake from the box. Kayla stabbed a dark red question-mark candle into the top and lit it with one of those long lighters. “Make a wish,” he added, barely a whisper in my ear, as he brought the cake up to my face. I slowly closed my eyes, taking in the scent and feel of his body so close to mine, and thought painfully hard about what I would wish for most in the world. With Erik practically wrapped around me, and my best friend eagerly waiting to slice into the cake, I could only think of one thing.

As I opened my eyes and blew out the candles, I hoped they couldn’t see Chance’s name written all over my face.

U
NINVITED GUEST

T
his cake is awesome,” Kayla said as she cut into her second piece. “Seriously, you guys, is there anything better than cake?”

“I think there is,” Erik said. He had finally moved from behind me and was now leaning on the end of the bar. I was so glad I was sitting down, because he was making my head spin.

“Ha ha,” Kayla said, picking up her plate and heading to the living room. “Any clue when Chance will be back?” she asked. “I thought we were heading out tonight?”

“Um, he didn’t say.” I followed her and Erik into the next room, biting my tongue to keep from spilling details about the conversation Chance and I had on the porch; details they didn’t need. “But hopefully soon. I guess we could pack while we wait?”

“Already done,” Kayla said, cake and icing muffling her words.

“When?” She had been around me every second since we ditched school.

“Well, technically I never unpacked from our last trip,” she said, stuffing more cake into her mouth. “We’ll just toss in our bathroom stuff, and we’re good to go.”

If only it were that easy to take a road trip with Chance and Erik.

“So, uh, what do we do while we wait?” I asked.

“I say we don’t wait,” Erik chimed in. “Let’s hit the road now, leave Dead Boy to wallow in his self-loathing.”

I cut my eyes at him. “Erik, stop calling him that.”

“What?” He looked at me like I had just scolded him for smacking a newborn on the behind. “It’s not like I’m making it up. He is dead, and he is a boy, right?”

“Cut it out, seriously. I’m stressed out enough without having to worry about you two ripping each other apart.” Of course, the fight wouldn’t exactly be fair, seeing as how Chance was now a teenage boy with super-human strength; he’d tear Erik to pieces in seconds.

“Fine, fine,” Erik said, throwing his hands up in surrender. “He stays away from me, I stay away from him. Will that make you happy?”

Though I detected a bit of sarcasm behind his words, I took what I could get. “Yes,” I said, “very.” He smiled. “So again, what do we do while we wait?”

“How about a movie?” Kayla asked, hopping up and heading to the large entertainment center against the far wall. She opened one of the cabinets flanking the television and began rummaging through rows and rows of DVDs.

“Awesome,” Erik said, raising his voice for her to hear, but not moving his eyes from my face. I had no idea what was going on between the two of us, but he was definitely upping the ante. I wanted to ask him what he felt for me, just get it out in the open, but I was terrified of what his answer might be. I was even more terrified, because I didn’t know which answer I was most hoping to hear.

“Any requests?” she asked, her back to us.

“How about this one?” Erik said, standing up from the couch. He took off his jacket, revealing a perfect-fitting black T-shirt stretched tight over muscles I couldn’t stop thinking about, and fished in the inside pocket for a moment before pulling out a red plastic case. He tossed it across the room to Kayla before sitting down on the couch.

“Perfect!” she said, opening the case and popping the movie into the player. “You’re gonna love this one, Ava.” She sat in the only other chair in the room, so my choice was to either stand, or sit next to Erik. Judging by the grin on his face as I took a seat on the couch with him, this little arrangement had been preplanned right along with the party. Friends could be so devious sometimes.

“What is it?” I asked as the movie started up. I tried to not look completely uncomfortable sitting next to Erik, which wasn’t easy considering how great he smelled.

“From Dusk till Dawn,” he said, his voice low next to me. “It’s about a bunch of badass vampire killers.”

I glared at him, his smile even wider now. “How original.”