Back to You (19 page)

Graham shakes his head, taken aback. A satisfied chuckle, then his voice breaks the silence that has fallen on the tower.

“Donn made good,” he declares joyfully. “It was fascinating to watch! Although the events are yet to conclude.”

“But they will,” Donn points out with conviction. There is not even a trace of uncertainty on his face.

“Yes, yes, it’s all set in stone now,” replies Graham smiling. “I’m sure of that.”

Gideon seems as disappointed as Debra seems put out.

“So can we go now?” asks Jason serenely as he takes my hand. He turns his delicious gaze on me, I’m transfixed. I smile at him and take my place close by his side.

“Of course,” says Graham amicably. “You may go home, and don’t forget to tell my friend Aaron that I send my regards. Just one last thing before you go. Please don’t linger in the library. It’s closing time now, and it is unadvisable to be seen there at night if not in the company of a Council member.” He turns to look at Donn, probably thinking about the time I stayed way past opening hours with him.

“Absolutely no problem,” answers Jason respectfully.

Gideon, whose expression was sullen, seems to relax.

“James, the night security man, is awaiting you in the main atrium of the library,” Graham smiles.

“Right,” says Jason.

“Ah, Gideon,” exclaims Graham. His enthusiasm never seems to wane. “Ares will be here any second. We’ll wait for him here, you accompany our young guests to the exit. You seem a little on edge. Calm down, we’ll head to the Council Capital shortly,” he reassures him warily, and I realize that he is alluding to the planned banquet.

“Hmm …” There is a veil of nervousness in Donn’s voice. “If that is the case, maybe it’s best that they leave immediately, and by themselves.” His voice is cold as his icy skin, he feigns absolutely no courteous mannerisms now.

“Good idea,” replies Graham. “You never know. If you don’t mind, but I beg you to choose an opportune moment to exit the Art Room, so nobody will notice you.”

“Of course,” says Jason. “No problem whatsoever. We’ll wait upstairs for our opportunity to get out undetected.”

“Can I be of help to you?” asks Debra’s with a sickly sweet tone, her face lighting up.

“No thanks, I know the way,” replies Jason, curt but polite.

She nods and smiles kindly.

Jason turns to look at Gideon. The message is clear. Don’t follow us.

“Let’s go,” he whispers quietly in my ear.

We walk past Gideon and Jason clutches me close to his side, a wary expression on his face. It’s heaven … but right in the very depths of hell.

Guilty

As we put
everyone behind us, my breathing becomes more regular. I’m regaining control of myself. We exit the antechamber.

Holding me close, Jason makes his way along the same corridor we came in by. There is obviously no other way out. I don’t want to ruin this moment, imperfect though it is in this room full of flowers that remind me of Donn, and under the attentive eye of Gideon, watching us as we make our way out.

We go through the sliding panel, leaving the tower behind us, and find ourselves again in the narrow passageway lined with those majestic, austere busts of the 13 Council members.

Ares awaits us by the door, and with a flourish of his arm indicates we are to follow. He must have heard about Gideon’s ravenous hunger and decided that he should accompany us himself.

Jason uses his body as a protective shield. His expression is hard, concentrated. I can see his throat quivering, ready to emit a giant roar. Maybe he can sense Ares’ hunger. But his graceful, serene mannerisms instill no fear into me.

If it were not for his arm wrapped tightly around my waist, I could almost forget that Jason was here with me. At this moment, it is easy to be under the illusion that he wants me just as much as he did before. But maybe we were apart for too long. I can’t even begin to think about why he’s doing all this. I don’t care. Maybe he’s just behaving like this to keep me calm while we’re in danger. Maybe he feels guilty for having dragged me down here, but relieved that I’m coming out of it alive. Whatever the reasons, I’m fine playing at being the happy couple, even if only momentarily.

“The exit is four stories up, you can take the elevator,” says Ares’ melodic voice. “Goodbye.” He turns and makes his way back to the Council tower.

The elevator doors open. I’m glad there’s another way out. I don’t think I could stand another underground scramble through the dark

When we get into the elevator, I remain in Jason’s arms in silence. I study his face, imagining him kissing me tenderly in this very instant. He seems to be having the same thought, as he examines my face. He hasn’t said a word to me since we left Graham’s office.

As I try to see the changes in his beautiful face, I suddenly realize that I really am in his arms again. Although I know it won’t last.

“Oh, Jason,” I exclaim, and tears well up in my eyes.

What a dumb thing to say! I feel like I’m in a fairytale, and I’ve got until the clock strikes midnight before Jason leaves me.

I begin to blubber. The tears blur that breathtaking vision of his face. It seems like madness to cloud up my eyes after a long year of not seeing him. I cling on to his shoulders; at worst, he will push me away. But he doesn’t. He holds me even closer to his hard, icy chest, far from his mouth, so tight I can barely breathe.

“What’s wrong?” he asks anxiously, rubbing my back up and down softly.

I can’t tear my eyes from his sapphire eyes and his pale face. As I look at him, my overriding thought is that night will never fall. That this moment will last for an eternity.

“Is it really so absurd for me to feel so happy?” I whisper pensively.

“We have so many reasons to be happy.” replies Jason, his voice molten chocolate. The look he gives me makes it easier to pretend he is feeling exactly the same as me. I lie to myself, that way the moment can seem even sweeter.

“First of all, we’re alive,” Jason says. “And that’s already one thing. And if we’re careful, we’ll be alive tomorrow, the next day and the one after that.”

I nod, certain these words have a different meaning for him.

“We’re together,” he adds, as his fingers stroke my cheeks. His cold breath caresses my face.

“Yes, and the future is looking bright,” I whisper, uncertain. I suddenly doubt my own words.

“Let’s hope so,” he mouths, a slight smile on his lips.

We stride across a well-furnished parlor and come out of the huge wooden panel inside the ornamental frame. It’s where Donn came in from after having thrown me in the chute under the fireplace into Jason’s arms.

We are back in the Art Room in front of the fireplace door. It is weird to see it from a different viewpoint, from this side. We cross the room to the door. I’m the only one who takes a final glance at the wall, which hides the secret, prohibited part of the library that no one knows about, before entering the long, echoed corridor. We go down the familiar stairs and passageways, arriving at the main entrance to the building in an instant.

James steps out of the shadows toward us. He’s tallish, not too pale, he even has the same color brown eyes as me. Under almost any other circumstances, I’d find him handsome. But not here. He’s human, just like me. I can barely get my head around seeing another human being alone, at night, feeling totally at ease surrounded by vampires. Maybe he wants to join Donn’s family. Maybe he hopes they’ll keep him. Who knows––what he can do for them may keep him safe.

He welcomes us with a gentle smile and accompanies us to the door.

“Miss Whitely, it is a pleasure to see you again at last. Don’t you come here late anymore?”

“No, James, not anymore. Once was enough.”

“I see. If you want to stay after hours, you know where to find me.”

Jason stifles a grimace.

“Ridiculous.”

“Oh James, let me introduce you to Jason Rees,” I hurriedly say.

Jason looks at him indifferently.

“We already know each other.”

“Ok, goodbye then James,” I say as Jason delicately leads me toward the exit.

I just have time to grab my bag, which I had left on the table next to the window under the cupola in the reading room. James had clearly packed my things away and brought it down.

“Goodnight, Miss Whitely,” he adds cheerily, and we leave the library.

The streetlights have been on for just a short time. The city is seething with life, but the sky is an opaque gray; night is close at hand. I look at Jason’s face as we walk down Boylston Street. I still can’t believe he’s by my side and that he has returned to me. One question burns, but I choke it back. Every time I come into contact with his cold skin is another guaranteed beat of my heart. He knows this. Our fingers are still coy in their union.

I pull in closer to his arm as our pace accelerates, anxious not to waste even a second of the little time we have left together. Despite this, the walk still takes a while, but he shows no sign of impatience and slows his pace to meet my more sluggish human one.

I try not to get distracted by such sheer perfection, but it’s not easy. Each time I allow myself to admire his divine beauty, it saddens me. I’m so plain and simple. How can this heavenly creature have come back to me?

He looks at me, taken aback by my tortured expression. He tries to read what is going on in my mind, frowning, worried.

He looks down the street.

“No one knows you are with me,” he says, waking me out of my reverie.

“That depends. I guess Donn and the Council know.” The idea doesn’t seem to make him any happier.

“That’s a real help,” he mutters.

I shrug, acting like his dilemma is nothing to worry about.

He mumbles something under his breath, so quickly I cannot make out what he says. He’s still anxious. We both look up to the clouds above, now darkening threateningly. Not as big a menace as the thought of the imminent horror of having to leave him.

“I’ll take you home,” he says. I can’t make out if that’s a promise of a future never-ending or if he’s alluding to having to leave me so soon.

“No,” I sigh. He must think I’m scared, and for the first time, I find myself wanting someone to be able to read my thoughts. He smiles at me, trying to lift me out of the black mood.

“You’ll have to be a bit patient,” I explain. “I’m not big on goodbyes unfortunately.”

He examines my face.

“I can be very patient if I make the effort.”

He leads me gracefully to a black car parked in the shadows to the left of the car lot entrance. For a moment, I had forgotten I had a car. This makes the immediate future a lot rosier.

Jason helps me into the passenger seat, despite the fact that I have to drive to get back to Jeff’s house. To my surprise, he gets into the driver’s seat next to me, rather than getting on his motorbike. The silence seems even more thundering by the sudden rumble of the motor.

Jason turns to me and smiles, and pulls the car into the darkened street, his excessive speed adds a new worry to my face. He maintains the breakneck speed as we head for the suburbs.

I don’t want to talk about the other evening, but I’m not sure that avoiding the topic would be the best move either. He asks again about the wound on my hand; or is he talking about the wrist, with reference to what happened in the tower? I answer with a lie.

After all, what happened the other night was nothing. I have been getting scrapes and bumps since I can remember, it’s the story of my life. I just got a paper cut with the show program, that’s it. An insignificant face, if I think back to everything that happened over summer. Without meaning to, Vuk reduced me to shreds, and I risked bleeding to death after the accident and Scott and Jamie bore the brunt of the many long days I spent in the hospital.

Jason keeps his eyes on the road, his expression indecipherable. He is black with rage, and I try with all my might to think of a way to save the remnants of this evening with him.

The dimly lit road certainly doesn’t ease the anxiety, until the bright lights of the highway make everything easier. We leave Boston behind us and the journey is so short that I don’t even have the time to fall into deep thought.

When he pulls up in front of Jeff’s house, I’m still short of ideas. I’m not surprised to find the lights in the house still on. I know my dad is waiting up so we can spend some time together. After all, he did only come back two days ago.

Jason cuts the engine and leaves his hands off the steering wheel. I take a deep breath. I have so many questions racing around my head, but they will have to wait, because Jason would have to go away any minute now.

I suddenly feel so agitated that my hands start to tremble. I hide them by crossing my arms across my belly and look at him, but he doesn’t seem to come into focus.

He smiles tenderly, comfortingly. It works, and so I launch into the least important of my questions. Without the sound of his voice, this fleeting paradise is incomplete.

“Do you want to keep the car?” I suggest, without thinking about how I could justify its absence to Jeff.

“Have you forgotten that on foot I’m a lot quicker than this old museum piece?”

“You don’t have to go,” I cut in, too quickly, holding my breath for his reply.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see him smile as he walks away. I jump out of my skin when I hear the car door slam shut.

In less than half a second he has made his way around the car to be at my side. He opens the passenger door to let me get out.

“Yes, Stella, I do.”

“So you’re not staying?” I try again after a slight hesitation, the note of pleading perhaps too intense.

“Not tonight.”

“Ok.” I avoid asking him why, or maybe it’s those sapphire eyes of his that make me lose track of what I want to say.

I keep staring at him until he turns his eyes away, his face serious.

“I just want to see you smile, that way I can go happy.”

I force a smile, but it seems so pointless. Jason slows down his pace to walk alongside me.

“In less that 11 hours, I will be back with you,” he confesses in my ear, one corner of his mouth unable to resist turning up in a half-smile.

“I’ll be counting the minutes,” I murmur, the joy choking the words in my throat. But my enthusiasm turns to dust as soon as I realize that in a few moments he will be gone. We get to the end of the drive and he leads me up the stairs to the front door. I can’t bear to see him leave after not seeing him for so long.

He can feel my reluctance, so he slumps into the small wicker sofa on the porch. I settle in next to him, snuggling up against his cold shoulder. He stiffens and almost imperceptibly draws back half an inch. I feel the blood drain from my face.

“What were you planning to do today in the courtyard?” I ask. My voice is far shakier than I would have liked.

“I’m not really sure, my thoughts were a little confused.” He runs his hand through his unkempt bronze hair.

“What kind of thoughts?”

“I wasn’t in a good place,” he confesses. “I had decided to go on the hunt, right there and then.”

He studies my grim expression. Then he offers me his hand, seemingly forgetting the heavy atmosphere that had fallen on us. I willingly take it. He tightens his fingers around mine delicately. His skin is as soft and toned as ice.

“You almost did, right?” I gaze searchingly into his sapphire eyes and my heart tightens, but not quite as delicately.

“I changed my mind at the last minute,” he states matter-of-factly, then smiles.

“You would never have dared disappoint Aaron like that.”

“Probably not. But I changed my mind when I saw you in the courtyard. It made my think twice. And Aaron’s experiences have taught me that it wouldn’t have been easy. I don’t know how many suicide attempts he has survived in the beginning, when he began to realize what he had done. As I said, things are not as black and white for us as they are for humans.”