Tainted Crimson (19 page)

The next few days fly by and then so do the next few weeks. Suddenly school's out for the summer and I’m left bored as can be. I’m constantly being hounded to practice both my magic and my combat skills. Neither seem to improve much. I do manage to lift the piece of paper using my magic, at least D says I do, although I don’t see it actually happen. He says magic is like a muscle and the more I work at it the easier and stronger I’ll become but I’m pretty sure that the paper didn’t actually move and he’s only trying to keep me from giving up completely. I can see it in his eyes, when he watches me practice, that he thinks that I should be progressing far quicker than I am.

Over the last few weeks of school I spend a lot of time studying for tests that I really don’t need to study for and helping D with his math. Basically all of my time is spent with D either at school or at home practicing something. Jacob asks how I can stand to be around him so much and I usually just shrug because in reality I’m enjoying his company. More than that, I’m loving it.

It’s not unoften that I fall asleep in his bed sometimes even on his chest and I no longer feel completely awkward about it. Neither my father nor Jacob questions it and I’m so very thankful for that. I know that neither of them would ever suspect us as being any more than companions and really, the two of them aren’t around enough to see anything more between us anyways. They’re always out working on some master plan that no one will let me in on. All I know is that they’re rounding up people to attack Marco.

I find myself wondering quite often these days whether or not D and I would have been together in another life. Another life where he wasn’t ancient and wasn’t my father’s best friend. Sometimes I can tell that he is thinking the exact same thing. Neither of us have time to dwell on the fact though because we’re so busy with other things.

When the end of school year rolls by without further disputes, I’m thrilled. I try to avoid confrontation at all costs. Eric and his monkeys as I call them, leave us and Blake alone. No one protests when Blake sits at the big table every day and everything seems to go smoothly. I make a couple of friends but we don’t really do much friend-like stuff seeing as D isn’t allowed to leave my side and I’m far too busy anyways. I miss girl time with Mindy, I miss
Mindy
but again, I don’t have time to dwell on it.

Then impossibly it’s almost the end of summer vacation and time to head back to school.

I guess I should be thankful that Marco hasn’t found me yet or invaded my dreams again but I just can’t help but wonder what my life would be like if none of this supernatural crap ever came to be. Truthfully, the only thing, or person I should say, that keeps life bearable and keeps me sane in general is D.

Today we’re going to a nearby city to go shopping upon my request. My father and Jacob are gone as usual and so it’ll just be the two of us. He’s taking me to pick out some more summer clothes and a bathing suit as I’ve spoken up about wanting to pick out my own clothes instead of everyone else buying them for me. I especially would like to pick out my own undergarments because having my father pick them out is just plain weird.

I shuffle down the stairs and into the kitchen where I expect to smell the usual scent of bacon but it’s the first time in months that I haven’t. I’m surprised to find a note on the kitchen table stating that D has gone out and will be back in a couple hours. Very rarely am I ever left alone and when I am it’s only for a few minutes. I use this freedom to slump on the couch and watch TV. This is something that I haven’t had enough time to do lately. After four or five hours and D still not returning, I contemplate calling my father and alerting him but I really don’t want to get D in trouble if he is just being held up somewhere. My father will kill him if he finds out that he’s left me alone for a few seconds let alone hours.

I call his phone, it rings and then hits his voicemail. This is the strangest part because normally, even if he is busy he will answer his phone. I hold my phone in my hand, my thumb hovering over the contact that reads ‘dad’. I debate for what feels like hours but is only seconds before I end up putting my phone back into my pocket.

My stomach growls. I know there’s no food in the house but I also don’t want to leave. D will kill me if I do. I search the cupboards and all that I come up with is some ravioli which looks entirely unappetizing. I finally decide that I’m going to make a quick run to the store. It’s only a few blocks away and if I’m lucky D won’t beat me back to the house.

I slip on my sandals and decide to run there instead of walk just because it’s faster. I manage to make it to the store and back without D beating me back home. Now I’m really worried.

I call my dad. His phone goes straight to voicemail. Strange. I call Jacob, his also goes straight to voicemail. Now I’m
really
worried. But in all seriousness, what can I do? I have no idea where they are. I can’t just start combing the country for them.

Then the front door opens and in walks D covered in mud from head to toe.

“What the hell?!” I shout furiously.

He looks up at me but seems to look right through me.

“Where were you?” I demand.

“Kicking some vampire butt. We’ve got to get out of here, Marco might be coming,” he instructs, no sign of his usual happy attitude. I don’t argue. I know the drill. I very sadly shut off my phone after erasing all of its data and throw it on the table. I take my noodles from the microwave and then we’re out the door and in his car.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

“Remember that chunk of land I have outside of the village? The little clearing? I spelled it so it’s like it doesn’t even exist. I can only do it with small areas so I thought it would be the best bet. You can only enter it if you know it exists. That’s why I took you there before I spelled it. Others who walk near it will skip right over it and end up on the other side of it,” he guarantees.

“So it’s safe?” I ask hopefully. My heart is racing.

“It should be. Only problem is, your father and Jacob don’t know it exists but they’re over in Sweden and shouldn’t be home for a few days. Hopefully the vampires will have given up searching Taverd by then. I think I killed every one of his minions that seen me. At least I hope I did or they’ll be reporting back to Marco and then we’re screwed. Well we’re screwed anyhow because he’s going to come looking for his missing minions, that or he’ll send someone else searching for them.”

"Screwed?" I shudder.

"Well, I'm strong. Really strong actually but he has the capability to be far stronger."

"But he has to feed off of people and use their power to get his own right?" I ask.

"Correct, yep." He nods while speeding up on the highway.

"So why don't we just do the pop in and pop out thing?" I ask dumbfounded that we are wasting the time driving to this place when we could just pop over there.

"Because when I do that it leaves what we call an essence trail which is basically a magic residue or footprint. It would give away our location and the hiding spot would be given away," he continues as we approach the chunk of land he's invested in.

"Ah," is all I can muster. I'm shaking with fear. So much for being strong or whatever but I think having a complete psycho chasing me around justifies my feelings of absolute terror. Here I was thinking I was safe in Taverd and getting comfortable there. Stupid. I should've trained harder. I should've been ready for this. Did I not expect this day to come? I spent all my time trying to overcome the fact that supernatural beings are real and drooling over the guy sitting next to me instead of spending extra time preparing myself. Idiot.

"We'll be alright," D reassures me when he looks over to see my grimace of terror. He grabs my hand in his and squeezes it tightly as we slow down to turn into the field.

He parks the car almost exactly where he did last time and gives my hand one more squeeze before he jumps out. He opens the trunk of his car and pulls out a duffle bag.

"What's that?" I ask trying to distract myself and not actually all that interested in the bag.

"Just some emergency stuff I keep in the car. I have a bunch of them stashed all over. Warlock stuff."

"Oh," I whimper while twiddling my thumbs nervously. "Are in the boundary of the spell thing?" I ask anxiously.

"Of course."

"Thank god," I mouth but don't say out loud.

I follow him down to the clearing and the small body of water. He throws the duffle bag down and then disappears into the bushes. He comes back a moment later with his hands full of all sorts of crap. I wonder where the hell he got it. Obviously he didn't pop out anywhere because it would leave an essence or whatever.

At my confused expression he says, "I've been preparing for this just in case. Do you really think I wouldn't have a backup in case something went wrong?"

"What is that?" I ask nodding towards his hands.

"Oh I have a bunch of stuff hidden in the bushes over there. A tent, food, chairs, a bunch of stuff. Never know how long we could be here, a couple days, a couple weeks." He shrugs.

"How do we know when it's safe to go back into town? How did they even find us?"

"It's safe when I go back, check that there are no vampires, and then report back to you. They haven't found us. Marco controls all of the vampires. He has packs of them that he sends around like bounty hunters when he wants something. The problem is that a few of them seen me and I had to kill them. It will be suspicious that some went missing but I hope that it gets written off as witches in the area or something and he doesn't think twice about it. I'll have to keep calling your dad so he doesn't come back to town right away because I'm sure they'll be checking out town for a day or two. Unless they suspect we’re here then maybe they'll be here longer. I'm not sure."

"Is that safe? To call him I mean?" I wonder.

"Yeah, we have burner phones in case of emergency."

"Why are they in Sweden?" I ask, assuming that I'm not going to get much of an answer I never do but I need to keep talking so I don't freak out. He takes in my expression and understanding fills his eyes.

"They're over there because they're having a meeting with some of the other immortals and a few rogue witches and warlocks. They're hoping to recruit them in their attack against Theenis. Obviously they're not telling the others about your existence which is why I've been in charge of you while they've been running around getting things in order," he explains and then adds, "you're terrified."

I swallow hard. You'd think I'd be used to feeling scared by now. He pulls a large blanket from one of the bags he's brought and lays it down on the grass. He sits down on it and then pulls a chocolate bar from one of the other bags. I sit down on the blanket too. He breaks the chocolate bar in half and hands me one of the pieces. I take it although I don't feel like eating and begin nervously picking at it.

"I can help if you want, I can block some of the emotion. If that's what you want," he offers while taking a bite of his half of the candy bar.

I immediately shake my head. The idea doesn't sit well with me. He's done this to me before, without my knowledge, back when we left Denver and I did not like the intrusion.

"Just talk about something, distract me," I beg while holding back tears. Eventually this Marco asshole is going to find me and do what to me? That's the big question isn't it? What does he want from me? I think about all of the students at my old school, all of the ones that were murdered because of Marco, because of my existence. Is it my fault?

"Ari, you're okay," D says softly and wipes something wet from my face. I realize that I'm crying. I'm reminded of something that Jacob said a while before we left Denver. He told me that it's okay to cry, that holding it in would only lead the sadness to build up and one day I would explode. He was right. I think I'm exploding right now at the worst possible time. I’ve had months to do this,
months
, why now? God damnit, Ariella!

I feel D's arms around my shoulders. I lean into him as he pulls me against him and I let the sobs violently wrack my body. I can't stop. I vaguely wonder if I'll ever be able to stop.

Then suddenly it's dark and I realize that I fell asleep. I'm still in D's arms only we're now lying on the blanket instead of sitting.

"You're awake," his husky voice states blankly.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep," I whisper. I'm not sure why I whisper, maybe because the night is so quiet. I'd hate to wake nature.

"It's okay, you needed it. I got ahold of your father and Jacob. They're staying in Sweden until further notice. They're safe."

"Good," I say so quietly that I barely hear myself.

"How are you feeling?" he asks then.

"I don't know," I answer honestly.

I realize that although I'm in his arms, cuddled against him, I don't feel like I shouldn't be. I don't feel like it's awkward either, it feels
right
. He runs his fingers through my hair mindlessly and says nothing. Why do I keep telling myself that i should be weirded out by this? Why do I keep telling myself that there’s no way that we can be together when it’s all that I’ve wanted these past months? Who cares if he’s been alive for three centuries? Who cares if he’s my father’s best friend? I love him as a friend and although I keep trying to deny it, I think I may love him as something more.