Hollowed (24 page)

His breathing is ragged over the onslaught of rain. He steps back, shaking his head, turning for his car.

"
Noah—
"

The driver
'
s side door swings open. He lingers there for half a heartbeat and meets my gaze one last time. Lost, uncertain.

"
It
'
ll happen, Briar. It always happens.
"

He gets inside. The car rumbles to life and he
'
s gone.

Cars come and go from t
he parking lot
.
I wait for Noah t
o change his mind and come back. H
e doesn
'
t
.

I stand there for what feels like hours, letting the rain numb me to the bone, until Cole steps up
behind
me
and
tilts an umbrella above
our heads
to fend off the water.
H
e doesn
'
t say anything. Just stands there until I turn to face him. His eyes are soft, sympathetic. I wonder how much of my conversation he heard
or
saw.

"
I feel he is not an immediate threat to us, for the time being."

"He said he'd be in trouble with his Elders, if he tried something? Do you know who he works for?"

"I have a guess, but that is all." Cole touches a hand to the small of my back. "
Everyone has their own story and pain that others cannot comprehend,
Briar.
Noah isn
'
t ready to share his story with you yet
.
"

Guess that answers that.
I duck my head into a nod.
"
Was he right, though? Does becoming a vampire change who we are?
"

"
Perhaps.
"
Cole takes a heavy breath
, and beckons me to come inside with him.
"
But witches are no different.
A
child who learns they have the ability to use magic
will change
, too.
The world becomes a lot bigger to someone who knows they have eternity.
"

I let him lead me back inside, but I
'
m not in any hurry.
"
Witches are immortal, too.
"
Not a question
. How old is Noah, then
? As old as Oliver? Cole? How many more secrets will I find out before all this is over? That is, if it
'
s
ever
over.

"
Not immortal
by nature, no
. But many
witches
place spells upon themselves to slow or halt the aging process; it
'
s fairly common.
"
He holds the door for me.
"
Some find human partners and
reverse
the spell, choosing to live a normal life and grow old with the one they love. Unfortunately, vampires
don't
have the option to choose growing old or remaining young forever
.
"

We don
'
t linger in the lobby. Last thing I need is to be stared at some more by the girls at the front desk. I hit the button for the elevator and try to use Cole as my shield from their curious eyes.
"
I wish we did. I didn
'
t ask for any of this.
"

"
Not many of us
asked for it
. And those that did
aren't
always happy with the results.
"

There
'
s something so distant, so sad in his voice that it makes me look up. But Cole
'
s eyes are locked on the
elevator door
and
impossible to read.

The doors ding and slide open. Before I can ask what he means by that, he gives me a nudge inside but lingers where he is.
"
I
'
ll be up shortly; I have something to attend to.
"
He gives me the ghost of a smile.
"
Check on Oliver. Get yourself dry.
"

No chance to argue; the elevator closes and takes me up to our floor, leaving me in relative silence to wonder at his statement.

Not many of us
asked for it
. And those that did
aren't
always happy with the results.

Did he mean himself? Or Oliver? I wish they would tell me. I want to know them more, I want to understand them in the way they seem to understand each other. To have that connection with someone.
Once I
thought I had it with Ruby and again with Noah, but maybe not. Maybe I
'
ve never known what it
'
s like to get under anyone
'
s skin.

Daniel lets me inside Oliver
'
s room when I knock. He has a first aid kit and some wet towels, muddy red with blood. He
'
s cleaned himself up and is in the process of doing the same to Oliver.

The gashes and scratches on Oliver
'
s poor face and his mangled left shoulder are being carefully tended to and bandaged. I
'
m surprised how Oliver tolerates being fussed over. He catches my eyes and shrugs helplessly. Nevermind that Daniel doesn
'
t have some magical healing ability as far as I know, and probably needs the attention more than we do.

When
he finishes
, Daniel draws back and graces me with a smile.
"
Now, Oliver needs food. I will be right back.
"
He flutters out of the room, leaving the two of us in silence.

I shuffle my feet against the carpet.
"
Isn
'
t all that kind of pointless? The bandages?
"

Oliver looks at his patched shoulder and sighs.
"
Yes
. B
ut it makes him feel better, so it
'
s fine.
"

Kinda sweet, in a typical Oliver-fashion. I sink down onto the bed beside him, drawing my legs up.
"
Was it Joel?
"

"
Joel and the big one.
"
His eyes close
.
"
Wouldn
'
t have lost, but they caught me off-guard. I was too busy chasing the girl.
"

"
Alex.
"
I watch him rub absently at his scuffed and scratched knuckles.
"
I
'
m sorry for yesterday. Maybe if I hadn
'
t opened my big mouth, we would
'
ve been with you.
"

Oliver cracks open an eye to watch me.
"
Unnecessary. I don
'
t need your apologies.
"

I
refrain from apologizing for...
well, apologizing.
"
Why do you think Noah helped you?
"

"
Hell if I know. Guys like him w
ith grudges against vampires...
we run into them all the time.
Vampires
don
'
t have the best reputation.
"
He sighs.
"
Witches are tricky and underhanded about everything. They don
'
t have the brute strength, so they rely on wit and traps. It wouldn
'
t have been below him to kill me while I was injured.
"

But he didn
'
t. Just like he had
the chance to kill me
. I don
'
t want to read too much into that, so it
'
s better not to think about it.
"I don't really get it. If you guys all report to these Elders, why is it so common for people to go...rogue?"

"Does the government, the authorities, prevent all crime and murder in the world?" Oliver shrugs. "There will always be those who feel invincible. Those who
might not even know the existence of the Elders until it's too late. It's impossible to find every single witch, every vampire, every shifter, and get them the help they need."

Well, that sucks. And it's kind of scary, for that matter. "I'll consider myself lucky, then."

"
Can I ask you something?
"
Oliver says.

"
Shoot.
"

"
If we cross paths with
him
again and he does mean us harm...
"
he hovers over those words, struggling with what he wants to say,
"
...if it comes down between one of us or him. What will you do?
"

Would I fight Noah if I had to
?
That
'
s what he means. If Noah went after Oliver seriously, if only one of them could survive...

I look away,
staring at
the carpet.
"
I don
'
t want him to get hurt. But if he comes after you or Cole or Daniel, I
'
ll do whatever I have to do to protect you.
"
I mean it with every fiber of my being. I love Noah more than life itself, but loving him doesn
'
t mean I
'
m going to stand by while he hurts the ones who
'
ve stuck by me.

Oliver
'
s eyes are on me and he
'
s silent until I look up at him. He
'
s smiling. Grinning, actually.

"
What
'
s so funny?
"

"
Y
ou
protect
me?
"
He lets out a short, barking laugh.
"
I would like to see that.
"

Scowling, I sock him in the arm. I
'
m nice enough to not go for his injured shoulder.
"
Yeah, well, not all of us can be tanks like you.
It
'
s y
our turn to answer a question.
"
I force myself to keep eye contact.
"
Do you think being turned changes a person?
"

Shrug.
"
Sure. They
'
re human, then they
'
re not.
"

I punch him again, harder. He chuckles and rubs his arm, though his expression sobers a little.
"
Changes us, yes. Makes us all raving lunatics? No.
I assume that's what you mean.
"
Another shrug.
"
Sometimes I think
...
it makes people better. It can be a second chance at life. What each individual chooses to do with that chance is up to them.
"

What Cole said
downstairs
...
"
Did you want to be turned?
"

The last of the humor drains from Oliver
'
s face, leaving a sort of wistful melancholy behind.
"
I don
'
t know how to answer that.
"

"
Seems like a simple question.
"

"
Is it?
"
He twists to better face me.
"
If you had been conscious as you lay dying, and someone came to you and asked if you wanted to be turned... If you had ten seconds to choose, what would you have said?
"

The thought sends a shiver
rattles
down my spine. If someone had asked
? If I
'
d been given a choice?
"
I don
'
t know.
"
At that moment, I think I was
so petrified
I would have said anything to avoid death.
"
Is that what happened to you?
"