Memory: Book Two (Scars 2) (18 page)

A
wounded demon…

I
tensed my own strong and useful legs, digging in my fingers and feeling the
toned muscle that wrapped my bones, protecting and empowering me.

“Wait,”
I whispered. Then I found my voice and started forward, through the fence.
“Wait. Wait!”

He
paused with his hand on the door of the car. I did not break into a run. I
would not give him the satisfaction of seeing me sprint toward him. Instead, I
walked slowly and gracefully over the terrain like a Queen for whom everyone
else should be waiting on.

I
stood on the other side of the car from him, just out of reach if he chose to
touch me. “Tell me again,” I told him. “Tell me what you want.”

He
met my eyes with his dark ones, his face still guarded. “I want you to come
with me. This will be a new beginning, a new story, if you like.”

I
took a breath and opened the car door. “I’m coming. Let’s go home.”

His
eyes searched me like he expected something more, but I would not give him
that. We both got in the car, doors slamming in unison and we were encased in
dark leather and shiny metal as the sun was blocked from our skins by the
tinted windows. This car could be a cage, a home for the soulless. I reached
across and wrapped my palm around his wrist as far as it would go. He looked
down at me.

“You
made the right decision,” he told me.

I
smiled at him — it was the smile of seduction and scheming; the smile of
Rachels and Hannahs; and of a mended broken doll.

And
then I turned that smile into something more genuine. I could have played
games, I could have done my best to play him and manipulate him, trying to
control him. But that would be pointless. That would lead only to emptiness,
and I wanted something that was
real
.

“Just
drive,” I told him. I wanted his silence, just as I wanted him.

But
he leaned over and kissed me softly, in the way that always had me yearning for
more. When we broke apart, I met his eyes. “You have no idea what it’s like to
want someone who I hate half the time.”

He
rubbed a thumb across my cheek. I hadn’t realized that there was a tear there
until he spread the wetness. “It will get better with time. I promise,” he told
me softly. Then he put the car in gear and headed for the road.

I
opened the window and closed my eyes, feeling the sun and wind on my face.
Time. Did it really heal all wounds? Would it make us both into better people
as time eroded the sharpness of memory? Somehow I doubted that, but it didn’t
matter. Aaron was mine. He would be mine until the moment that I chose that he
wasn’t.

But
for now, I wanted him, I
needed
him. I reached over and took his hand,
giving it a quick squeeze. He flashed me a smile before returning his eyes to
the road. I watched it too, he took each winding turn expertly and I felt safe
under his control.

But
there was something else as I watched the road. Not only did I feel safe, I
also felt hopeful about the future. This road seemed endless, just like the
possibilities for my future. With or without Aaron, I was strong. I would
always survive, I had proven that. I could match him in anything that he chose
to throw at me.

And
I wanted happiness. I wanted story books and fairytales. I did not want life to
be a battleground of open wounds and hatred. And now that I had control of my
body and my life, I knew that I held the power in my hands to make everything
happen the way that I wanted it too.

“I’m
changing my name,” I told him.

He
flicked a quick look at me. “Yeah? To what?”

I
looked out the window. “I’m not sure yet. I don’t want to be Rachel, and I
don’t want to be Paige, I just need to decide who I want to be.”

He
didn’t say anything, just picking up my hand and raising it to his lips so he
could press a soft kiss to my skin. I hid a smile. Maybe there was the
possibility of a prince lurking somewhere within him. I just needed to find him
first, but if there wasn’t, I knew that I could always slay the monster. After
all, I wanted to live in fairytale.

The End