Amaretto Flame (12 page)

“Brother,” I said quickly, shaking my head.
“Hey, I’m going to take a quick break. I’ll be right back.”

She nodded and I hurried over to Everett,
taking his hand and leading him back outside. It was growing
warmer. Beltane had come and gone without me even celebrating;
something I hadn’t missed for years. When we reached the side of
the building, I swiveled and crossed my arms over my chest.

“What are you doing here, Everett?” I asked,
irritation obvious in my voice. I wasn’t mad that he was here – I
was holding myself back from grabbing hold of him and crying my
eyes out – I was mad that he hadn’t taken my side in the argument
with Ivanna earlier. Taking his long jacket off, he wrapped it
around me quickly and looked at me for a long moment.

“I should ask you the same thing,” he said,
with a note of irritation all his own. “You’re the future
high-priestess of Eagleton and you look like a…” He trailed off,
apparently not irritated enough to say what he’d been thinking, but
his icy eyes flashed.

“…A what, Everett?” I glared at him. “It’s
pretty sad that you didn’t see me angry enough earlier, so you had
to come here and throw more shit my way? That’s not the saddest
thing, though. The saddest part is that I am future high-priestess
of Eagleton, and that something bad is about to happen, and I’m
here. Doing this.” I took the jacket back off and thrust it at him.
The thumping of the music inside the building got louder for half a
moment; just enough to make me picture Jackson’s face.

“I know,” he said, tucking the jacket over
his arm and taking my hand. It wasn’t what I expected, so I felt
immediately guilty for yelling at him. “That’s why I came. I should
have said something earlier. I should have defended you to Ivanna.
I think something else is going on, Livvy. Ivanna has brought in
Lillian’s oracle. She’s staying in Eagleton, and there have been
non-stop secret meetings between the older members. It’s
weird.”

A small noise caught both my attention and
Everett’s. It was faint; a rustle of the leaves in the woods behind
Stallott’s. We were both tense and at times that was enough to make
our senses stretch out automatically, but I heard nothing else. The
next moment, Jackson’s voice startled me from the corner of the
building.

“Is everything okay, Olivia?” He asked,
stepping out so I could see him, his thumbs hooked in the pockets
of his jeans.

“Oh, Jackson, you scared me,” I said, letting
go of Everett’s hand. “Yeah. Everything is fine. This is my
brother, Everett. Everett, this is Jackson.”

Everett gave Jackson a look that was
obviously sizing him up, and then he put out his hand. “Nice to
meet you Jackson.” He looked back at me and added, “I have to go,
Livvy. I just wanted to say I was sorry and to tell you about that
other thing.” He kissed me on the cheek and walked past Jackson,
but then he stopped and turned back toward me. “Oh, and Livvy,
watch your language. That stuff sounds terrible coming out of your
mouth. Bad influence, I guess.” He pointed toward the building, and
then left. His last reminder that this job was beneath me.

I resisted the urge to yell at Everett, but
only because Jackson was standing there. Giving him a smile, I
gestured toward the bar. “Shall we?”

I was distracted for the rest of my shift but
it went by quickly. I snuck out so I wouldn’t have to talk to
anyone, and then when I got home I took a long, hot bath. Crawling
into bed, I fell asleep almost immediately. In my dreams, I saw
Jackson smiling at me. I knew it was a dream because he was looking
at me with such tenderness. He’d never looked at me like this in
reality; didn't know me well enough to look at me like this in
reality. My dream shifted then and I was walking through the rain,
holding a bundle of flowers.

It was dark, and I realized I was walking
through a cemetery. The headstones around me faded out until there
was only one in front of me. It was to this grave that I was going.
I connected the flowers with the cemetery and realized I was here
to visit someone. I could feel the pain of missing the person, as
if it truly were real. When I arrived at the grave, I leaned down
to place the flowers, and when I looked up, I saw the name. Jackson
Vance.

Waking, I sat up quickly and squinted against
the harsh sunlight in the room, and heard the knocking. My first
thought was that Everett was back, so I ran downstairs and slung
the door open, still in my shorts and tank top. Jackson let his
eyes flick over my messy hair and wardrobe before giving me a lazy
grin.

“You look lovely,” he said, with an
expression that brought an unexpected giggle out of me.

“Sorry,” I replied. “I thought you were
Everett. Come in.” I held the door open so he could enter and then
I pointed at the couch. “I’ll be right back.”

I ran upstairs, brushing my teeth and hair as
I tried not to look in the mirror. I didn’t want to know how bad it
had been. Pulling on a pair of khaki shorts and throwing a
button-up shirt on over the tank top, I went back downstairs.

“Ah, there you are, Slayer. A crazy lady let
me in your house,” Jackson laughed.

“Shut up,” I chuckled. “So, what’s going
on?”

“What are you doing today?”

“I don’t know. Why?”

“Well, I know how well you liked The Drop,
and so I wanted to show you something,” Jackson said, running a
hand through his hair.

“Is it another ride?” I asked, hearing the
faint thread of excitement in my own voice.

“Something like that,” he chuckled.

“I don’t know, Jackson,” I said, remembering
my vow. No more Jackson Vance. I shivered because an image of the
headstone in my dream popped up in my mind. “Paula didn’t seem too
happy about the whole Drop thing. I don’t want to cause
problems.”

Jackson stood. “Paula and I used to date…sort
of. I ended it, and I don’t think she was too happy about it. But
she’s not my girlfriend, and I don’t answer to her. As far as I
know, you don’t either.”

“No,” I chuckled. “Jenny and Erika told me
about you…er, about Paula and you, I mean. But that’s not the whole
reason. I just…my life is really complicated right now,” I ended
lamely, shrugging.

Jackson smiled. “Since when is an assassin’s
life not complicated?” He moved forward a few steps and brushed a
strand of hair behind my ear. “Look, I don’t know what it is about
you, but I like you. You’re like a puzzle that I can’t quite put
together yet. I just want a chance to get to know you, and that’s
all I’m asking for, okay?”

I tugged at the hem of my shirt and tried to
think, but it was pretty difficult with him looking at me that
way.

“Did I mention that this particular ride goes
pretty fast?” He grinned.
Ah what the hell?
I smiled and
shoved my phone into my pocket, then followed him out the door.
When we were in his jeep, I talked to avoid that weird silence. I
asked about his music, his family, anything I could think of to
keep him talking.

“So do you have other family nearby?” I
asked, watching his hands move easily over the steering wheel.

“Nope. No one other than my mother,” he
replied. “What about you?”

I shook my head. “I wonder what it was like
growing up as an only child,” I mused out loud.

“For the most part, quiet,” he chuckled. “But
hey, you’re the puzzle, not me. What was it like being in an
orphanage? And you said your aunt took you to another kind of home.
What was that like?”

I rubbed my hands on my shorts and looked out
the windshield. “I don’t know. I don’t really remember the
orphanage too well. I didn’t talk to the other kids and the adults
were very busy. As for my other home, it’s always noisy. There are
six others – you met Everett – and there’s always something going
on. It’s kind of hard to think, but I like it.” I smiled.

“So I guess it’s really weird being in that
huge house all by yourself?” He asked. “What are you doing here
anyway?” He smiled and glanced at me. “Not that I’m not happy you
are.”

I panicked. What was I doing here? “You ask
too many questions,” I laughed, trying to dodge his inquiry.

“Sorry. I told you I was curious.”

An amused smile flitted about his lips and I
was desperately wondering what he was thinking. I didn’t know
Staves well enough to know where we were going, but a few minutes
later, the buildings had all but disappeared. We pulled down a
tree-lined street and drove for a few more miles. When we pulled
into a driveway, I looked around.

The land was hilly and dotted with trees.
Around a small curve in the driveway was an adorable little
cottage, shaded by massive oaks and pines. Behind the cottage was a
thick patch of woods, spreading out to the right and left. Jackson
parked the jeep and looked at me. He sat there for a few moments,
and then he smiled and got out. When he opened the passenger door,
I spoke.

“Where are we?”

“This is my house,” he replied.

I let my eyes flick over the house again and
then I looked up at him.

“Relax,” he said. “The thing I want to show
you is
outside
.” I thought it was curious how he had
anticipated my anxiety about being at his house.

He put his hand out to help me out of the
jeep and taking it was a mistake. The tingling flew into me like
arrows, but it wasn’t painful.

I inhaled. The air was fresh and sweet – it
felt like we were in a different town. It wasn’t even like Staves
anymore. He smiled at me and turned, leading me through the lush
grass and toward the back of his house. When we were out back, he
turned and smiled brilliantly at me.

“This is it,” he said, pointing to a mass of
something under an olive green tarp.

“Well, that is pretty exciting,” I said,
smiling sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes, laughing, and with a
quick movement, he snatched the tarp from the machine. I felt my
eyes get wide.

“What is it?” I breathed.

“It’s a four-wheeler, Olivia. I swear. You’re
so deprived,” he laughed.

“And it goes fast?” I asked, walking closer
to it.

“It goes fast, but you might want to put your
cell phone in the jeep. Also, you might not be able to save those
clothes. It’s kind of muddy back there,” he gestured to the
woods.

I looked at him only a second and then I was
running to the jeep. Tossing my phone, keys, and the little money
that was in my pocket on the front seat, I ran back. When I got
back and stood exactly where I’d been a few moments ago, he threw
his head back and laughed at me.

Then, he swung one leg over the four-wheeler,
sitting, and put his hands on the grips.

“Are you going to get on?” he asked.

“Where?” I said.

“Behind me,” he rolled his eyes at me, still
chuckling. I swung my own leg over the four-wheeler, but my legs
were shorter than his so I had to hop a few times to get on the
seat.

“Put your arms around me,” he said. I wished
I could see his face just then; see the expression that was on his
face. “You have to hang on,” he explained.

“Okay,” I breathed, scooting a little closer
to him. I put my arms around his waist, and the moment my skin
brushed his shirt, the tingling began. He tensed and I nearly let
go, but didn’t. A second later, the engine was roaring to life.

We lurched forward and my arms automatically
tightened around him. He pulled through a small opening in the
woods and I could see that we were following a path. He sped up,
bringing a peal of laughter from my lips. The wind in my face was
incredible—but not as thrilling as the speed of the trees passing
by us. We flew over the trail and hills, and soon the forest opened
up into a clearing.

Jackson pulled the four-wheeler to the side
so I could look. It was like one gigantic mud puddle with several
areas of land sticking up through it. I realized what he was about
to do, and my mouth dropped open. He chuckled, looking over his
shoulder at me.

“You ready?”

“I was ready five seconds ago,” I said, and
almost before I finished what I was saying, the four-wheeler
lurched forward again and my arms tightened against his waist. I
was distracted as the tires of the four-wheeler splashed through
the first of the mud.

He turned the tires suddenly, spinning us the
other way and I screamed and laughed out loud. Mud and water was
flying up and landing directly on us. He expertly maneuvered the
four-wheeler through the mud, making us slide this way and that. I
laughed as the mud flew all over both of us. It was so…liberating
to feel the cool wind in my face and let the mud splash into my
hair, on my skin and everywhere else. I didn’t care if I was
getting dirty. I
wanted
to get dirty.

When we passed through a particularly large
puddle and muddy water cascaded over us, I laughed out loud,
squealing in delight. Jackson shook his head and laughed at me, but
took me back through it several times. We played like this for a
long time. Sometimes Jackson would drive through the woods really
fast before coming back and hitting the mud again.

Finally, when he pulled up behind his house
again, I was disappointed. I could have stayed on the four-wheeler
forever and been happy.

“That was fun!” I said, smiling through the
mud caked on my face. Jackson was absolutely covered in it. It was
stuck in big globs in his copper hair, streaked across his
clothing, and smeared against his tan skin. He even had a patch of
mud on his cheek, which I stood to wipe off quickly. However, when
my fingers touched his skin, they only smeared more mud onto him,
making a bigger mess across his cheek.

Suddenly, hysteria built in me and I was
laughing. He chuckled, looking at me for a moment like I might be
insane, and then he started laughing too. I pointed my finger,
trying to choke out the reason for my laughter, but I couldn’t stop
laughing or breathe long enough to make words. After a few moments,
I was able to compose myself, still chuckling.