Dying Dreams (Book 1 of Dying Dreams Trilogy) (9 page)

“I didn’t tell them anything, Mom. They took my blood and found out I’m 50% banshee, so it seems logical they would assume one of my parents is 100% banshee. If you had ever told me any of this, I might have known not to let them take my fucking blood.”

“You let them take your blood? Now that wasn’t very well thought out was it?”

She banged her head on the table and growled.

“Calm down, Liza. It will all be fine, but I think maybe your father, Becky, and I should head out of town. We’ll call you as soon as we can.” And just like that, her mother was gone.

She stared at the phone in her hand. “She hung up on me. She tried to twist this all around to be my fault, then she hung up on me.”

She looked at Ellison and found him watching her with pity in his eyes. “Sweetie, you’ve known her how long? Did you really expect anything else?” She just stared at him. She wanted to be angry with him, because she couldn’t yell at her mother, but she knew he was right. She was the idiot for thinking her mother would apologize or offer to tell her everything she knew about being a banshee. Her mother wasn’t a bad mom, she just didn’t waste a lot of thought on other people, unless they were her husband, the love of her life, the only person she really saw.

“How bad is this?” she asked.

Ellison stood, took her hand and led her to the couch. They sat down together, and he didn’t let go. “You’re on their radar now. They won’t arrest you. I convinced them you didn’t know you were fae, and I’m pretty sure they were just trying to scare you with that shit anyway. But they will register you, and they’ll be watching you. There are different laws for the fae, and you’ll have to learn those and follow them.”

She nodded. “Tell me the worst.”

“They have the power here, Liza. The government, rightly or wrongly, fears the fae and hasn’t allowed them many rights. If they want you to work for them, you will have to work for them, and…” Ellison let his hands drop into his lap.

“Spit it out, Ellison.” Her heart was starting to break already. She knew it would be bad.

“The fae aren’t allowed to obtain higher level degrees. You’ll have to drop out of school.”

“What? Why?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s a law that some fae are trying to fight, but they aren’t making much headway. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s because the government feels the fae have enough power. They’re afraid of a future where the fae are running the biggest companies and making decisions that affect humans.”

“But that’s not fair, that’s not…” Everything she’d been working so hard for gone, just like that. She would cry if she were capable of doing anything but listen as her heart cracked and shattered. “What will I do, Ellison? If I can’t… All I’ve ever wanted is to be a Marine Biologist, to live on the ocean.”

“I know, sweetie, and maybe someday you’ll be able to, but right now you’re going to have to find a new dream.”

“What about the degrees I already have? Can I use those?”

Ellison looked away and she knew the answer before he spoke. “I’ll look into it, anything’s possible right?”

At a complete loss, and with more questions than Ellison could ever answer, she fell back into old habits. She pulled out her cell phone to see the time. “Can I still wait tables?”

Ellison nodded. She stood and went to her room to get dressed for work, but she turned before she reached the doorway. “Wait, you need to tell me what’s going on with Marcy. Come talk while I change.”

“I don’t really think now’s the–”

“Get in here and start talking, or I’m going to tell Marcy you’re desperately in love with her, but need her to make the first seven moves.”

He groaned, but followed her into her room and sat on her bed.

“Talk. Marcy thinks she was bad in bed.”

His expression shifted from disbelief to reverence, and she paused to watch before she pulled her shirt over her head. “No. God, Liza, she was… She was amazing. And she’s so much fun and she just gets me, you know.”

“Oh, my god. You
are
in love with her, so what’s the problem?”

“I’m
not
in love with her. I’m just really attracted to her and every time I see her, I want to get her alone so I can take her clothes off and do things to her… I’ve turned into a complete pig.”

She stopped what she was doing, stood there in her bra, and just stared at him. “Do you have any idea what I would give to hear a guy say that about me? What’s the problem?”

“Isn’t it disrespectful? I mean, she deserves more than that. She’s brilliant and funny and so, so sweet. I should be able to have a conversation with her and not want to rip her clothes off.”

“What about after?”

“After what?”

“After you rip her clothes off, could you have a conversation with her then?”

He dropped his head in his hands and groaned. When he looked up at Liza, his face was beet red. “I just want to do it again. I just can’t get enough of her.”

She sunk down on the bed next to him. “That is so hot, El. I kind of wish I was Marcy right now, and I don’t even like you very much.”

“What? Are you some kind of perv? There’s something wrong with this.”

He looked so worried, that she had to smother a laugh. “Can I ask you something, El? All these other women you’ve been so crazy about, have you felt this way about them? I mean the sex with us was good. What’s different with Marcy?”

“I was comfortable with you, Li, and those other women. I’m never comfortable with Marcy. I feel like my skin, my brain, everything’s electric and nothing will be okay until I touch her and taste her and–”

She put her hand up to stop him before she heard more than she wanted to. “And where did you get the idea that’s a bad thing?”

“Li, I’m looking for the woman I can settle down with, have children with. What would I do if I had kids with Marcy? I’d probably let them starve to death just so I could have sex with her all day.”

She did laugh then. She laughed so hard she fell off the bed. Ellison might have pushed her off the bed, but she was laughing too hard to be sure.

“Fuck you, Liza. This isn’t funny.”

She tried to catch her breath and stop laughing, but she just couldn’t get past the ridiculous idea of Ellison believing he would neglect his own children. The one thing she knew best about Ellison was he took care of those he loved. Which was probably part of the problem. He was already in love with Marcy, whether he realized it or not, and he felt he ought to care for her. Somehow for him, having sex with her wasn’t taking care of her.

She noticed his eyes were glassy with tears and she leapt up and wrapped her arms around him. “El, where are you getting these crazy ideas, honey? Because trust me when I say, they are crazy ideas.”

He cleared his throat. “My dad loved my mother, I know he did, but I never saw them touch or hug. He told me that the woman I married, the woman who had my children should be the woman I respect above all others and to think of her in an overly sexual way was wrong.”

She’d had the unfortunate privilege of meeting Ellison’s father, a close-minded, uptight man who thought the best place for a woman was at home and sneered at Liza’s dream of a career. She was sure his father had put his advice about marriage in crasser terms than Ellison had and she shuddered at the thought. She knew Ellison disagreed with his father on pretty much everything, but for some reason this advice had stuck with him. Probably because his mother was a saint, if for nothing else than putting up with his father. Liza was going to be late for work, but helping Ellison was more important.

“Your dad was wrong. Every woman wants to be wanted for her mind, her heart,
and
her body. If I heard any man say about me the things you said about Marcy, unless he was some sort of weirdo stalker with chronic bad breath and–”

“Liza, please.”

“Right, sorry. I would be thrilled if I heard anyone say those things about me. Honestly, Ellison, if you had said those things about me, I’d actually consider giving us another shot. The fact that you want Marcy so fiercely is a
good
thing, and it will probably fade and calm down after a while. Take a long weekend and spend it in bed with her until your big brain starts working again. And, when you have children, you’ll love them and take care of them, and you’ll still love her and take care of her, because that’s the kind of man you are. You take care of the people you love. So call her right now, or I’ll call her for you.”

“I don’t know, Li. It just doesn’t seem–”

“Okay, if you insist. I’ll call her.” She was already running as she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. She skidded into the bathroom and slammed and locked the door, nearly catching Ellison’s fingers.

He banged on the door and yelled, but she ignored him. He’d thank her for it later. Marcy picked up on the third ring. “Hey, Marcy, it’s Li.”

Marcy sniffed and Liza’s good mood drooped a bit. “Did you talk to Ellison?”

“Yeah. He’s got some major issues, but he’s crazy about you. You still want him?”

“But why hasn’t he called? Why’s he been avoiding me?”

Now, Liza was in a bit of a bind. She probably shouldn’t reveal a confidence from a best friend, but Marcy was also a dear friend and the best one to relieve Ellison’s guilty feelings. “Here’s the thing. He’s got some antiquated idea that the woman he gets serious about should not be one he wants to ravage non-stop for the next three or four days.”

“What?”

“He’s too physically attracted to you, and he thinks it’s disrespectful.”

“What did he say exactly?” So Liza told her exactly what he said and she was pretty sure Marcy had an orgasm right there. What girl wouldn’t?

“He’s also crazy about your brain and your heart and everything, of course.”

“Uh-huh,” Marcy said, clearly not listening.

“Do you think you could come over and disabuse him of these ridiculous ideas? I’m worried he’s going to check himself into the looney bin if you don’t–”

“Liza, just stop. You’re killing me here!” Ellison yelled through the door for the fifteenth or sixteenth time.

“I’m already walking, Li. I can see your building.”

“Great, my work here is done. I’ll be at work so feel free to make as much noise as you want.”

Liza hung up and walked out to face her seething, red-faced, but still adorable, roommate. “She’s on her way to show you exactly how okay she is with the way you feel about her.”

She tried to push past him, but he blocked her. “Liza, you’re supposed to be on my side. You can’t just go telling people what I tell you in confidence. How can I ever trust you, if–?”

A knock at the door stopped him, and all the color drained from his face.

She couldn’t help but laugh. “That’ll be Marcy. Just try not to propose to her tonight, it might scare her away.”

“Fuck you, Li,” Ellison said, but there was no force behind his words. He sucked in a breath and went to the door. Marcy leapt on him, wrapped her legs around his waist and started sucking his face. Liza watched just long enough to make sure Ellison wouldn’t try to fight her off, before she went to her room and changed for work.

*SLOANE*

Sloane took a table at the restaurant where Liza worked and looked around for her. He’d asked to be seated in her section and he hoped he wouldn’t seem like a creepy stalker. He didn’t trust cell phones and showing up at her door seemed even creepier, so he’d opted for a public place where she could tell him to get lost if she wanted to. He knew he shouldn’t be there. He could get fired for what he was about to do, but he was surprised to find that he didn’t really care too much about the possibility of losing a job he hated more every day. She needed to know what she was getting into and he was the best person to help her with that. The idea of seeing her face and hearing her voice again had nothing to do with his decision.

He ordered crab cakes from a waitress who wasn’t Liza and asked her if she knew Liza and if she could send her over to talk to him when she got in. The waitress, a rail-thin girl with a witch-like, pointy nose, sneered at him like she knew exactly what he wanted with Liza, but promised to pass on the message. She wasn’t about to ruin her tip by denying him, seemingly oblivious to the insult her expression caused.

He was half-way through his crab cakes when he felt her eyes on him. He just knew that when he looked up, he’d find her staring at him. He lifted his head slowly, met her gaze, and was filled with a warmth that wasn’t just physical. He couldn’t help the smile that curled his lips. Liza glared at him and he forced himself to swallow the smile and present a professional demeanor.
Get it together, asshole
. The woman affected him in ways he couldn’t understand and wasn’t sure he should like as much as he did.

She started to turn away from him and his heart stuttered like she was rejecting him. He forgot all about professional demeanor and affected a bit of a pout, lacing his fingers together in front of his chest in the universal symbol for begging. She started toward him, an almost smile on her face, then stopped like she hadn’t realized what she was doing. It made him happy to know he had at least a tiny bit of the effect on her that she had on him. He made the peace sign with his fingers, and she shrugged and moved the rest of the way to him.

“Are you here to arrest me?”

“You were late. Everything okay?” He didn’t know why he needed to know so badly, but he did.

She smiled, a genuine smile that lit up her whole face and he was pretty sure he’d do anything to make her smile like that again. “I was just meddling in my roommate’s love life. He is now getting soundly fu…” She slapped a hand over her mouth and her eyes got big, and he knew that her smile had been for her roommate, as had her easy tone. Sloane was still firmly in enemy camp. Which was too bad, because he’d really wanted to hear her finish that sentence, maybe more than he wanted to finish the crab cakes on his plate. And the crab cakes were the best he’d ever had. “Are you here to arrest me again?”

“I didn’t arrest you before.” He’d worn jeans and a vintage t-shirt promoting some baseball team that no longer existed and he’d never heard of. Frankie had bought him the shirt, saying he needed more casual clothes, and he’d hoped it would put Liza at ease.