The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (80 page)

“Wow
,
that cousin of yours doesn’t believe in playing hard to get. I feel violated! Never leave me alone with her again, I beg of you!” Me and Libs cracked up with laughter and soon Justin was smiling again. Seeing him like this had me wondering what he actually remembered about last night. Draven had told me that he would have no recollection about
the night
’
s events
but I needed to be sure. I would have to speak to him before he left.

“Seriously though, that girl is messed up! And she has major b
eef with you…what’s that about
?” He nodded to me but shock didn’t take shape on my face.

“It’s a long
...oh so long
story
.
” This statement made it clear that I didn’t want to talk about it and nothing more was said.

“So…Justin, what did you think about Afterlife?” Libby asked trying to change the subject, unfortunately for me, it wasn’t any better than the one we had been on.

“Yeah it was cool, but man I must have been wasted
‘
cause I don’t remember getting home last night. I hope I wasn’t too much to handle?” Justin asked me and when Libby moved towards the sink Justin winked at me. Oh God
,
does this mean he remembered or was he just flirting with me? For once I hoped it was the second.

The wine had gone to my head and with the lack of food in my belly it didn’t have anything to soak it up. So that
,
combined with clearing ou
t
my stuff
,
didn’t put me in the best of moods. Libby had wanted to help but I said that if she wanted to help at all then she would do
her
best by keeping my cousin at bay!

I was close to snapping and I almost wished for my old hopeless self to find her way back
, because
acting numb would have been a breeze. I don’t know what it was about Draven but he brought out the fighter in me. He had found the
part of me that had been l
ocked away since the “Incident”.  W
ow it seemed like an age ago since I had referred to it like that. But the truth remained…He had brought me back to life.

It didn’t take long to stuff my clothes into a duffle bag that Frank had left out for me, nor did it bother me by sleeping in another room in the house but what did bother me more than anything else, was the idea that
she
would be sleeping in a bed that me and Draven had shared. I was trying
not to think about it but every
time I looked towards the bed and window seat I could see me and Draven there, making love and I didn’t want Hilary infecting my memories.

I had emptied my wardrobe and draw
er
s but the first thing I grabbed was my drawings. The last thing I wanted was Hilary finding my sketches of Demons and Angels! She already thought I was a freak without
knowing this side of me.

I had moved into one of the rooms on the other side of the house where Libby had kept some of her gym equipment. Frank had carried the exercise bike and rowing machine down to the basement so all that remained was a large, inflated blue ball and a set of brightly coloured weights that were stacked in one corner.

I dropped my bags and sat on the bed with a sigh. It almost felt like the first day I had arrived here, that minus all the excitement. Libby tapped on my door and pulled me out of my sombre mood by offering to make me a cup of tea and a sandwich. My stomach rumbled at the thought of food.

“Oh
,
and Justin’s heading off if you wanna say goodbye
.
”

I needed to talk to him before he left but the task left me with sweaty palms.
What was he going to say? I stood up and pulled my sweater dress down loving how soft it
felt on my skin. As I walked on
to the landing I heard Hilary in my room unpacking while on the phone to one of her
few
friends.

“Seriously, you wouldn’t recognise her, she’s gone so fat!” She then giggled like someone on Nitrous oxide and I rolled my eyes, cursing under my breath as I knew she was referring to me. Maybe I had put on weight? No
!
I’m not starting that again, last time I saw her it was my nose that she had me paranoid about.
I just hoped she was using her own phone and own money to slag me off! Of course when I reached the downstairs and saw the handset wasn’t in it
s
cradle
,
I knew this call was on the expense of Libby and Frank.

“You know she’s on the phone to a friend up there and I know the girl works fast but I can’t imagine it’s anyone in the US!” Libby looked furious and stormed o
ff upstair
s calling her name, which left me and Justin in the kitchen alone.

“So you’ve decided to escape
?
” I said light hearted
ly
and he smiled.

“You’re free to come with me
.
” He said with a seductive eye and I laughed nervously. I doubted
that
if he knew my secrets he would commit to such an offer.

“Me? Na
h,
I’ve always wanted to try out living in purgatory
.
” I joked
,
but given the circumstances it didn’t s
eem that funny and
although Justin laughed
,
I couldn’t bring myself to follow him. I
nstead I
turned my attention to finishing the sandwich that Libby had started and proceeded to add mayo to one side when I stopped and thought about my cousin’s comments.
Damn
her! I scrap
ed the mayo off the knife into the jar and screwed the top back on. I could feel Justin’s eyes on me and when I turned back round sandwich in hand he was smiling.

“Just remembered you don’t like mayo?” He mocked and with a mouthful I nodded and said
when only half
swallowed
,

“Something like that
.
”

He knew why
,
as he too had heard Hilary’s comment outside. My pride had been butchered today and I was close to opening a tub of Ben and Jerry’s from the freezer and devour
ing
the whole lot in a dark room alone. God
,
why did I le
t that girl grate on me so much
? Justin brought me out of my
gluttony thoughts and asked me ‘THE’
question.

“Kaz
, about last night…” I almost dropped my sandwich but all I lost was a piece of lettuce. At least it gave me something to look at as I bent down to pick it up.
He stopped me fidgeting after I’d put it in the bin and placed his hand on my arm.

“Keira, did something happen last night?” Oh shit! Was he starting to remember? He took a step closer to me and as I took a deep breath
,
my lungs filled with the scent of soap and
sea water. How was it that he could still smell of the ocean when he was
far from it? I looked up and me
t his concerned expression.

“Did I…I
,
do something last night…did we do something?” I didn’t know how to respond. Of course it would have helped if I knew what it was exactly that he remembered, so I went with that.

“What do you remember?” H
e rubbed the back of his neck with his palm
and looked deep in tho
ught, like he was trying to dig
it
out from
somewhere
deep
in his memories
. I just prayed he didn’t find too much back there.

“It’s weird…like having a dream and being convinced the next day that it was real. I remember being at the club and drinking at the bar
.
”

“With me and Dra…Dominic
?
” That’s when he looked at me like he was drawing a blank.

“No it was just me and you… oh and then your friend with the mad hair turned up
.
”

“RJ, you remember her but no one else?” That wasn’t right, sur
e
ly he should have remembered Draven being there, after all
,
it was before he had taken the drug.

“No, why, did he show up?” I didn’t know how to answer.

“Umm….yeah, but you must have just missed him
.
”

“What a shame
!
” He said sarcastically and I hit him lightly in the stomach.

“Oi be nice! What else?” I needed to get to the bottom of it all before he left.

“Well that’s it really, after that it kinda goes all fuzzy but I have the strangest feeling that I…” I leaned in expecting him to whisper but I think he took it the wrong way. He lent in to and gently moved my hair off my neck sending shivers down my spine.

“What is it?”
I asked softly.

“That I kissed you and that I liked it
.
” His words rippled out of him full of raw sexual emotion. Of course just then Hilary decided to walk in and coughed to make herself known.

“Am I interrupting something?” She asked in a snooty voice and then I thought the best way to cover up the fact that it looked like we were doing something was to hug him. I slapped him on the back and then lifted my hand up to give him a high five. Thankfully he followed my lead and slapped my hand ending it with a ruffle of my hair.

“
Catch ya later sister-in-
law!” I smiled at his efforts but Hilary didn’t look convinced.
He walked back in the hall to grab his stuff and
there
Frank and Libby stood by the door waiting to say their goodbyes.
Hilary huffed at me as I walked past and I was sure I caught the words “slut”
whisper from her mouth but I ch
ose to ignore it as I knew it was said out of jealousy.

I found F
rank giving Justin a bear hug and Libby quickly wiped a tear away thinking no
one noticed. Since she had beco
me pregnant she had developed such a sensitive side she couldn’t even watch a football game without crying for the losers.
Poor Frank was scared to watch TV at all.

“Well
,
take care of yourself and my little nephew
.” Libby smiled and
almost set off crying again.

“We don’t know it’s a boy
,
” Libby said and Frank mouthed the words “Jerk” at him making it obvious where he had gotten that idea from. Lucky for him I was the only on
e
that noticed it. Justin hit his brother on the back and then turned to wink at me. I smiled at him along with blushing and Hilary just received a nod which made her storm off like a spoilt child. She sounded like she had bricks for shoes as she went
storming off
up the stairs.

“
Something I said?
”Justin joked before walking through the door and just as I was going to ask him if he needed a lift
,
I realised I didn’t have my car, which had me wondering if that was the reason Draven had insisted on having a car take me home? In the end it didn’t matter because a beep from Frank
’
s dad, who was now parked outside
,
told me that he was going home. Frank and Libby waved before going back into the house but I still had unfinished business so I ran down the steps calling his name. He turned looking happily surprised.

“Hold up a sec
.
”

“What?
M
issed me already
?” H
e was so
damn
cocky!

“I just wanted to know…to check…that you’re ok?” He looked confused and then smiled lighting up his slightly freckled face
.

“You worried about me?” He saw me frown so he continued without an answer.

“I’m fine, I know I s
hould
have the hang
over from Hell but it’s weird…like something I drank last night mustn’t have agreed with me but at the same time it did…does that make sense?” Oh yeah, it made sense alright!

“My only regret is towards you, I have a feeling that I didn’t behave last night and if I offended you at all then I apologise.” This had been the most sincere that I had seen Justin and for it I gave him a wink back myself. I had wanted to give him a hug but
the sight of Ragnar in the back
ground
,
staring with hellfire in his eyes at Justin’s back
,
stopped me.

“Friends?” I asked and in the end he pulled me in for a hug anyway but at least this way
it hadn’t been m
e that had started it. The sound
of a tree branch
the thickness of my leg
snapping behind us made him pull back and turn around.