Hollowed (16 page)

I let go reluctantly. Nothing she says is making any sense, but maybe I
'
m being selfish. She
'
s right; if the vampires come after us, I can
'
t promise that the boys are enough to take care of things. I
can't
put them in that kind of danger.

Before she can leave me
, I grab a napkin and scribble my new phone number on it.
"
Can I ask you something?
"

She gives me a patient look. Waits.

I can
'
t help but ask
...
"
Did you ever see that boyfriend of yours again after you were infected?
"
I don
'
t know what I
'
m expecting. Maybe I hope her experience was happier than mine. Or maybe I want to be reassured I wasn
'
t alone in how miserably that whole scenario had played out.

Her smile is sad this time.
"
Yeah. Noah wasn
'
t too happy about it.
"

If I were standing, I
'
d be hitting the floor right about now.

Coincidence, that's all.

"
What was Noah's last name
?
"

She purses her lips.
"
D
'
angelo. Noah D
'
angelo. Why?
"

Of everything she
'
s told me, this makes the least amount of sense. No coherent words will form in my throat. My mouth has become useless for human speech. What do I tell her? That I think we had the same boyfriend?

I shake my head slowly. Ruby
tucks the napkin with my number into her pocket,
cups my face and squeezes my cheeks.
"
Chin up.
I
'
ll be in touch, okay?
"
She shifts the shoulder strap of her purse, adjusts a clip in her hair, and leaves.

I
'
m numb all over.

Can it be coincidence? There has to be half a million guys named Noah in the country. But Noah D
'
angelo? That makes the idea of coincidence pretty slim.
T
he second that name fell from her lips, I couldn
'
t think of anything to say.

For another twenty minutes I sit there, staring into her cold cup of coffee and breathing in the faint cherry blossom scent she left behind. Would probably keep sitting
,
except
my
cell starts to vibrate. The text has nothing but a question mark on it from Oliver, wondering where I am, if I
'
m okay.

I will my legs to work and slip out of the café, dazed. My dead sister isn
'
t so dead after all, and she just might have been dating my (ex?) boyfriend. On top of that, I didn
'
t get much useful information for Cole and Oliver. I should have kept her longer and questioned her more. Overall the entire meeting feels counter-productive to maintaining my sanity.

Not two feet out t
he door, someone is behind me. It c
ould be anyone walking down the road, but they
'
re too close, right up on my back. I suck in a breath
and
turn slowly.

The guy from the park Ruby labeled as Fred. His
face is not on the top of my list of people I want to see, but thank God he
'
s not on the bottom, either. The air whooshes right out of me. I guess he doesn
'
t like the way I roll my eyes and turn around to keep walking, because his eyes widen briefly before he glares.

"
Hey!
"
 

"
I
'
m
so
not in the mood for you right now, Freddy.
"

He grabs me by the arm and yanks me around, which earns him a swift kick in the shin that gets him to let go. He hops back on one leg, nursing the other with both hands.
"
Ow!
You stupid bitch!
"

Do I laugh, or do I feel sorry for him? His words are hollow, like a five-year-old repeating what he
'
s heard and not thinking of it himself.
"
Someone
'
s teaching you bad language. What do you want?
"

Fred looks back up with a petulant little-kid scowl on his twenty-something-year-old face. He straightens up, folding his arms across his chest.
"
You know what I want. You were here seeing your sister, weren
'
t you?
"

If it were Joel, I
'
d be terrified to lie. Something tells me he wouldn
'
t fall for it, but this guy
—
even the blonde bitch that was with him last time
—
they
'
re different. Compared to Artie and Joel, Fred is a kitten.
"
I don
'
t know how many times I have to say that I don
'
t know where Ruby is. She died years ago, and if that isn
'
t true then I don
'
t know what to tell you.
"

"
Then what are you doing here?
"

Shrug.
"
Waiting for a date. He couldn
'
t make it.
"

This statement seems to amuse the hell out of Fred.
"
Got stood up, huh?
"

I counter with a smile, complete saccharine.
"
You
'
d know all about that.
"
His expression falters.
"
I
'
m going to tell you one more time: I don
'
t know where Ruby is. Stop following me.
"
I turn to leave, pause, glance back again.
"
And tell your friends to stay the hell away from my family.
"

Fred opens his mouth to say something, thinks better of it and shakes his head.
"
Sorry, but I can
'
t let you go. Even if you don
'
t know where she is, I bet she
'
ll come running when she knows we have you.
"
As he
'
s reaching for my arm again I hop back a step, out of reach.

"
Touch me again and I
'
ll scream rape.
"

He glowers.
"
You would not.
"

I offer my arm.
"
Try me.
"
His gaze flicks from my arm to my face and back again, wary. But no grabbing. Wow, he
'
s easy.
"
I
'
m willing to bet you don
'
t want to make a scene in public; even you guys aren
'
t dumb enough for that. So get out of here before I scream anyway.
"
This is all bravery I
'
m going to regret the next time I run into any of them in a dark alley, but I
'
ll savor it while I can.

Fred gives a quiet snarl, and for a second I
'
m worried he just might try something despite my threats. But as quickly as that look crosses his face, it
'
s gone again, and I realize someone is approaching from behind.

"
Briar! I
'
m late, I
'
m so sorry.
"

That smooth voice entwined in a silky French accent isn
'
t one I
'
ve heard before, but when I turn around and fix my eyes on the person it belongs to, there
'
s no questioning it. I just
know
.

"
Al
—
Daniel?
"

I shouldn't be surprised. He can turn into every other animal under the sun, why not a human?
He
'
s tall, pale-skinned
,
and his chocolate-colored hair hangs in his face. He
'
s slender and devastatingly handsome. Never, ever the kind of guy I could
really
get a date with, and by the look on Fred
'
s face, he
'
s thinking the same thing.

"
This
is the guy you were waiting for?
"
he asks.

I flash Algonquin
—
Daniel
—
a grateful smile as he slides his arms around me in a tight embrace. He even goes so far as to press a chaste kiss to the corner of my mouth, and my face starts to burn. Really, was that necessary?

"
Ma belle
. I hope you were not waiting long.
"
Daniel hugs me to his side and looks questioningly at Fred.
"
I am sorry to interrupt.
You are...?
"

Fred glares sullenly and I can tell he
'
s debating whether or not to make a grab for me anyway. I wrap an arm around Daniel
'
s skinny waist, clinging too tightly, and silently pray that Oliver is nearby in case something goes wrong.

Finally Fred averts his eyes, scuffing his heel against the sidewalk.
"
No one,
"
he mutters. With his metaphorical tail between his legs, he shuffles off up the street. Daniel coaxes me to turn around and we walk the way he came, with me casting glances over my shoulder. I don
'
t relax until Fred is out of sight.

"
God, today
sucks.
What were you doing, anyway?
"

Daniel gives me the most patient of smiles.
"
You wer
e taking too long. It might have looked suspicious if another vampire rushed to your aid
. So...
moi
.
"

I stop walking and stare up at him. Wanting to ask why
now
of all times he decides to let me see him like this. In the grand scheme of things, though, I guess it isn
'
t important. Daniel gives me a quizzical look to which I shake my head and start walking again.

Oliver is waiting for us right where I left him, pacing the alley. He halts, whirls, looks both of us over to make sure we
'
re okay before letting out a sigh.
"
One of them was nearby
, weren't they?
I could feel it.
"

I raise an eyebrow.
"
So you waited for me to run into him first before sending Daniel?
"

His expression tightens. Daniel laughs.
"
Well, I could not stroll down the street
naked
. Oliver had to fetch me clothing first.
"

What? Oh. Oh... I hadn
'
t...
thought about that. Awkward.

"
The darling even had it in him to pick me out undergarments.
"
He smiles sweetly and Oliver goes an amazing shade of red. I can
'
t help but laugh.

"
Shut up! Would you have rather run around without them?!
"
Apparently, Oliver doesn
'
t want an answer to that because he spins around and stalks off down the alley. Daniel and I exchange amused smiles and follow.

I walk between them, taking comfort in their presence and at least knowing there
'
s no way Fred would double back to come after me again. It
'
s just a feeling, but I think Oliver could tak
e him in a heartbeat. Daniel...
well, he doesn
'
t look like much of a fighter, but who knows? He could surprise me.