Book of Love (24 page)

“
What?”
I finally spoke,
digesting her words but paralyzed by the absurdity of it all. Wes
was staring at Emily with a half smile.

She grumbled again. “Get over it, okay? For
the last time, Jane, Alexis is with Greg right this second, and
Greg hardly seems like good company, especially alone.”

It finally sank in. I felt my heart lurch,
and horror engulfed me. Whatever it was she’d just laid claim to
was something I was just going to have to trust her on—for now.

“
We need to find her!” I
gasped.

Emily rolled her eyes at
me.
“Exactly!”
She was nodding enthusiastically. “Finally, I’m not the only
one that thinks he’s a cree—
eep.”
Emily froze, the color in her face
draining.

“
Emily, what is
it?”

I felt a cold hand on my back then, and spun
around. My eyes met Max’s. I smiled and looked back at Emily, her
mouth ready to scream. Max was quick to grab her arm, his eyes like
darts. Emily’s face instantly seemed to release, the color
returning.

Emily looked confused for
a moment, and then looked up at Max.
“Oh.”
It was as though she had
discovered something new.

I heard Wes spout an angry breath. He pushed
past Emily, breaking the hold Max had on her.

“
Don’t
touch her,”
Wes hissed, his veins
suddenly bulging on his forehead.

I gasped. I’d never seen Wes this mad
before, not to mention protective, as though Emily was his
mate.

Max put his hand in the air, his fingers
splayed in a display of innocence. “Calm down, Wes. I’m not here to
cause harm.”

Wes was huffing hard, his face beet red.

Emily looked like a pot ready to boil over,
and the frantic look on her face returned. I could hear a scream
slowly began to rise from her throat. I lunged at her, putting my
hand over her mouth and latching my arm around her neck. I stood
behind her, my chin on her shoulder. I hated that she was taller
than me. Wes looked at me, his anger fading as he found himself
conflicted—hurt me in order to help Emily? Or give in.

“
Can we just stop this?” I
spoke calmly, addressing everyone.

I could see that Emily was
glaring at Max. She wriggled away from me.
“What are you?”
she spat at
him.

I looked back at Max but he wouldn’t look at
me. Max didn’t answer Emily’s question, instead burying it with a
remark. “We need to find my brother, before he…” Max’s mouth shut,
his face nothing but business.

I finally spoke. “Before
he
what?”
I felt
a little betrayed, as though I didn’t know Max at all, even though
I thought I had.

It was then that a scream
erupted from somewhere in the house. I looked at the crowd in the
living room, but everyone was carrying on as though they hadn’t
heard what we had.
Why had I heard
it?
I looked to where Max was, but he was
already gone.

“
Where…” I looked at Emily,
seeing she had the same look of confusion on her face that I did.
“Did you hear that?”

She nodded gravely. “Clear as day.”

I heard the scream again.

“
I think it’s coming from
upstairs,” I added.

Our eyes grew wide, and our bodies lurched
to life. We took off in the direction of the noise, pushing past
the couples that were making-out in the middle of the dance floor.
Reaching the stairs, we stumbled up the flights, stepping over one
student that had fallen asleep there. In the upstairs hall, we saw
Max standing outside a door toward the end. How had he gotten there
so fast? He turned his head as he heard us, motioning us
forward.

We walked carefully, trying to be quiet in
case we heard the scream again. I scanned Max’s eyes for answers,
but they were void of knowledge, void of the serene blue ocean I’d
grown to love. Max grabbed the door handle as another low scream
echoed in the room beyond. Emily and I looked at each other with
fear in our eyes.

I heard the cold scratch of metal against
metal as Max twisted the handle, finally throwing the door open.
Emily and I arrived at his side. I was anxious to look in as I
peeked over his broad shoulder.

The scream turned into a crazed bout of
laughter. Alexis was jumping on the bed, screeching as she let
herself fall onto the pillows, blankets fluffing all around her.
Her hair was wild, and she was in her underwear. I scanned the
room, seeing Greg was in a nearby chair, watching her with a look
of amusement on his face.

Greg’s attention slowly
turned to us. “Oh, hey,
Brother.”
He gave Max an innocent wave, but I knew better
than to fall for that. “I think this one is a little
drunk.”
He winked,
speaking in a whisper as though Alexis couldn’t hear.

“
I’m not drunk!” she
squealed.

I watched Max’s jaw tighten as he stepped
into the room, his hands clasped tightly at his sides. He walked up
to the bed, getting Alexis’ attention. “Alexis, are you
alright?”

She giggled into the covers of the bed.

Max glared at Greg. “What did you give
her?”

Greg looked annoyed by the
question. He rolled his eyes and exhaled dramatically. “I don’t
know. Something
good,
though. I
can’t—”

In the blink of an eye, Max had crossed the
room, grasping Greg by the neck. He lifted him out of the chair
with one arm.

I gasped. “Max!”

Alexis continued to laugh and moan into the
covers. She rolled herself inside them, and then rolled onto the
floor. She squealed as she landed on the rug. I didn’t bother to
help her, figuring she knew how to handle herself in similar
situations. I stepped toward Max, touching his arm as he continued
to hold Greg in the air. “Max, stop this!”

It was as though I’d broken him from a
trance. The blue color in his eyes returned, and his stone like
face released. He dropped Greg.

Greg smiled at me from where he’d been
discarded on the chair. His expression instantly made me regret
saving him.

Max turned his head to look at me, his
pupils still dilated. I stepped away from him, frightened by the
familiar madness I saw in his eyes. It was a face I could never
forget, even after ten years. He blinked a few times as he stared
at me, his body seeming to deflate in size. I stood as still as I
could, afraid that if I moved, Max would snap me in half. He shut
his eyes, taking a deep breath before opening them again. The color
had changed, the familiar stare of his past replaced with deep blue
guilt.

He reached for me, but I
backed father away from him, frightened by what I’d seen. Turning
to look into the hall, I saw that Emily and Wes were no longer
there. I looked back at Max, guilt still lacing his gaze as his
brother began to chuckle. The chuckle was a song I’d told myself
never to forget, a song that reminded me of death, and more
specifically,
my father’s
death
.

Not knowing what to do, I fled the room, too
confused to understand what had been real and what had been a
dream.

Emily:

“
Wes, calm down.” I grabbed
his face, willing him to look at me. His pupils wavered. “Listen to
my voice, Wes.”

I’d managed to get him out of the house,
stashing him in the cramped backseat of his car with little
success. He was breathing hard, unable to focus on anything but the
overwhelming urge to change.

I licked my lips, frightened that this
wasn’t only dangerous for him, but also me. If he did choose to be
the lion, or monkey, or anything for that matter, there was no
telling what he would do to Greg or Max, especially when triggered
as he was. I knew now that it was a bad idea to come tonight. Wes
had been right to feel anxious.

I grabbed Wes’s hand, my own knuckles
turning white as I grasped as hard as I could. Thinking of nothing
else that could calm his anger and mimic the adrenaline, I crawled
into his lap and straddled his legs. I took his hand and placed it
on my hip before grabbing his face. I pressed my lips against his,
his breath streaming through his nose and across my face, hot as a
furnace.

His hand gripped at my skin and I winced,
letting out a small squeal of pain, but refusing to let it stop me
from distracting him.

His hormone fueled rollercoaster of thoughts
began to slow, and he responded to my touch for the first time
since I’d dragged him from the hall. My tactic was working. Wes was
coming back to me. My muscles were taxed, but I continued to grasp
his face. It was no easy feat for a one-hundred-and-twenty pound
female to haul a two-hundred pound, blood hungry brute out of that
house. I was sweating.

He bit my lip, splitting the skin. I tasted
the metallic flavor of blood fill my mouth, but I didn’t care. He
pulled me against him, his hands like steel. Slowly, his breathing
became more regular, his thoughts no longer sinister, but rather
something sweet. With all my strength, I pushed away from him.

“
Wes.” I said his name,
hoping he could hear me.

His eyes were shut as he tilted his head
back against the black leather, groaning. I felt him rub my hip
where he had grabbed it, his touch so soft that you’d think it was
another person all together. I licked my lip, still tasting blood.
As he opened his eyes, guilt flooded them.

“
Emily, I’m so sorry.” He
saw my bloodied lip, though I tried to hide it. He touched his
finger to the cut, his eyes filled with hurt.

“
Wes, it was my choice,” I
reassured him.

He gently rubbed both my hips where I knew
there had to be two large bruises forming. He relaxed into the
seat. “I never want to hurt you, Em.”

“
You won’t, Wes. I’m a
strong girl.”

He grinned and pulled me against him,
pecking the cut on my lip before twisting his lips with mine.

Just don’t break my
heart,
I thought.

Max:

I saw Jane walking along the street as my
headlights shown across her familiar silhouette. I slowed, rolling
up beside her and dropping the window. The tires slowly crackled
against the cement.

“
Jane.”
She refused to look at me, though she knew I was here. I rubbed my
head with my hand, frustrated with myself. “Jane,
please.”

She stopped, her arms crossed against her
chest. Still, her gaze remained on the sidewalk before her, staring
straight at the ground. At least she had stopped.

“
Jane, I’m sorry. Please,
let me drive you home.” I was pleading. “It’s cold, and it’s too
far for you to walk alone.”

I saw her lips move as
thoughts jumbled inside her head, filtering through in cloudy
snippets of information. “What was that all about, Max?
What just happened?”
She
sounded scared; she
felt
scared. “I don’t understand.
What. Is. Happening?”
She was
inspecting her hands.

I put the car in park and got out, sensing
that I couldn’t let her do this alone. I watched her from over the
hood. Her breathing was erratic, and I could almost feel the cold
sweat that coated her skin. I couldn’t stand to see her this way. I
wanted to comfort her.

I slowly navigated my way around the car, my
hands held before me in my attempt to show her I wasn’t a threat.
She backed away a few steps, but stopped. I knew she trusted me to
some degree, but she had been caught off guard by my anger. I
walked up to her. Her eyes remained locked on the ground, her
muscles tense as she tried not to shake.

I weighed my options, knowing what I wanted
to do, but unsure of what she wanted. The ring had hampered my
efforts to completely understand her thoughts. I was fumbling in
the dark, something I wasn’t used to. After much debate, I went
with my gut for a change, carefully reaching up and touching her
face. She flinched away from me at first, but as I coaxed her, she
began to relax against my touch. I hadn’t done anything to persuade
her relaxation; I couldn’t, not like I did with Emily in the
kitchen.

Finding it an open invitation, I clenched my
teeth and wrapped my arms around her. Jane’s calm enveloped me, the
world relaxing for the both of us. Her tense muscles succumbed and
our bodies welded into a comfortable shape. I shut my eyes in
relief, knowing that my relationship with her was salvageable.
Running my hand down the back of her hair, she buried her head in
my shirt.

“
You’re as cold as I am,”
she muttered. She shivered against my chest, and I knew my lifeless
body was only making it worse.

I pulled her away so that I could look her
in the eyes. “Please, will you get in the car?”

She nodded, her teeth chattering as an icy
drizzle began to fall from the sky, matting her hair.

I led her to the car, opening the door as
she got in. Shutting it, I walked around to the other side and got
behind the wheel. I cranked the heat and pressed a button on the
center console for the heated seats. I shut the door and shifted
into gear, planning to take her home. The car was silent as we
drove, intensity filling the gap where calm once lived. I watched
her from the corner of my eye, seeing her rigid and still in her
seat. Her hands remained tightly wrapped in a ball on her lap, the
shiver in her breathing slowly fading as the car grew warm.