Cursed (The Brookehaven Vampires #4) (52 page)

I knew Amber had been promised to Felix. Oliver had told me, but I wasn’t about to tell her that I already knew, or how I knew. I also wasn’t about to interrupt her from her thoughts. At this point, I wanted to know what had happened and what was going to happen between them just as badly as I needed air. But I
wasn’t going to pry, I didn’t feel it was appropriate. It was, however, a needed distraction from my own life.

Her eyes focused back on mine a moment later. “It is hard for me to see past all of the years now,
and to see past all of the time that I have waited for him to honor his promise to me.”

She leaned forward and set her teacup and saucer on the table. She straightened and continued to speak. “Furthermore, now that my brother has bonded
with a human, it makes me wonder if perhaps I have been waiting for the wrong man all this time.” She had tears in her beautiful eyes, which caused my own to surface.

I had no clue what to say to her. I was surprised she had opened up to me in such a way
, and I did not want to spoil it, so I held my cup and saucer in one hand while I reached out for her hand with my other. I squeezed it gently, and I said, very softly, “You have to do what is best for you.” I pulled my hand away a moment later.

With a slight smile, she blinked back her tears. Her focus fell on her cup on the table. “My heart wants what it was promised so many moons ago.” She looked back to me. “But is that what is best for me?”

My heart was aching for her. “I do not know,” I responded softly.

After a quiet moment, she said, “I am sorry, Delaney.”

I felt my brow furrowing as I continued to look at her.

“You did not come here to discuss my troubles. Forgive me.” She smiled her regular and warm Amber smile.

“There is nothing to forgive,” I told her.

Her smile saddened, but it was different this time.

“What is it?” I asked.

“You remind me of a very good friend I once had.”

“Oh?” I questioned, keeping my voice low, hoping to get a glimpse into more of her life.

“Yes. I miss her every day. Thank you for taking the time to listen to me, and especially for your kind words. They mean a lot and will not be forgotten.”

“Of course,” I said, wondering if the friend she spoke of was the same person Levi had mentioned—the one he said I reminded him of and that he too missed.

Amber was quick to return our focus
to the books she had pulled out for me to view. She began telling me about what areas I could work in once I was ready. She told me that she would be happy to tutor me and privately teach me all that she knew.

She also let me know that she would be happy to take me under her wing and guide me wherever I wanted to go in the studies of the paranormal.

I was looking forward to it.

Amber had this way about her that made you forget your troubles. I imagined this fact combined with the excitement of our topic also helped.

Once we had spent several hours poring over the information Amber provided and talking about all of the areas in which I could learn, study, and work, it was time for me to go home…to my nightmare.

It was late when I sent a text
to Oliver’s phone, asking to be picked up.

I received a response
a moment later:

On my way

It made me sad to know it was most likely Carter who had actually responded to me, and not my Oliver.

Had they been turned back into themselves, I imagined Oliver
would’ve been there to get me the moment it happened.

“Are you sure you are alright?” Amber asked once again as we waited in her home for Oliver/Carter to arrive.

I nodded, forcing myself to smile.

While waiting, I helped her take the teacups and tea
pot back to the kitchen. A moment later, there was a knock on the door.

Amber looked through
a camera that was hidden behind a framed picture to the right of the door, and it showed her who was in the hall. She then opened the door to reveal Oliver and Carter.

She greeted them, but before she could invite them in, I thanked her once more for having me over and for all of the information she had given me. I also told her that I would see her in class the next day. Then I hurried the boys down the hallway.

Carter, who was actually still Oliver in Carter’s body, kept trying to talk to me. He kept asking me how my night was and how it had gone with Ambrose. The fact he called her Ambrose and not Professor Amber was a clue to any outsider listening to see if their “trick” had worked. I made this clear when we were in the Challenger. Oliver rode home in silence after that. I knew this situation wasn't his fault, it wasn’t any of our faults, but it sucked, and I was pissed that my boyfriend was still stuck in my best friend’s body.

Once back at the complex,
I walked between them on the way to the apartment. Oliver’s body walked ahead of me, and Carter’s body sulked close behind me. It was like some sick, twisted Laney sandwich.

Once in the apartment, I headed
for my room so I could dump my backpack onto my floor, but I stopped just behind the couch.

“What’s on the floor?” I asked. There was a dark stain on the tan carpet. It was about the size of a dessert plate.

“Blood,” Carter’s voice said from behind me.

I raised an eyebrow and turned toward him, knowing I was actually talking to my boyfriend when I said, “Excuse me?”

Carter’s head nodded toward Oliver’s body standing near the dining table. “He gagged on blood.”

“Only once!” Carter protested in a rather whiney voice
I’d never heard my Oliver use.

“I made him drink it in the kitchen after he got it on the carpet,” Oliver said as I returned my attention to him.

“Don’t you mean over the sink?” Carter grumbled.

Oliver shrugged. He smiled crookedly at me.

First off, GROSS! Nice big blood stain on our carpet. Super. Second, this sucked so bad! I wanted to smile at Oliver, but I was confused. Was I smiling at him because he was Oliver, or because he was Carter?

“I’m going to bed,” I said, and that’s just what I did.

The Nightmare Continues

I was slow to wake the next morning. I stayed on my stomach, staring at the slivers of sunlight that were streaming in through the blinds, watching the dust particles dancing in the light.

Had yesterday been real, or had it all just been a really bad dream?

Then I heard the right words come out of the wrong mouth. “You okay?” Carter’s voice asked. He was just behind me.

Tears were fast to work their way to the surface. I blinked several times to force them away.

Turning my head so I could see him—Carter, or rather Oliver in Carter’s body—I found him leaning against the splintered doorframe of our bedroom.

I kept my head on my pillow and shrugged one shoulder in response to his question.

He nodded, the corner of his mouth picking up for a second, but in an ironic sort of way.

“Yeah, this really sucks.” He came into the room
and sat at an angle at the foot of the bed. On his own side of the bed. A bed he was currently not allowed to sleep or rest in, because he was not in his own body.

“Have you heard from Felix?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

His eyes stayed on mine. He gave a little shake of his head. “Not about our situation, no.”

I felt the tears fighting to fall, once again. I looked away. What if we couldn’t fix this problem?

“I’ll talk to him later, Laney. He wants to meet us for lunch.”

I looked back at Carter’s miserable eyes that were housing my boyfriend’s mind.
I’d seen Carter look sad before, but this was different. I had never seen him look this unhappy, and Carter had many reasons to be miserable.

I turned onto my back, and after a moment, I tossed my blankets aside and sat up, moving closer to the person sitting at the foot of my bed.

He watched me, his bright blue eyes—Carter’s eyes but Oliver’s thoughts and movements—stayed on mine as I moved closer to him.

I was hesitant as I wrapped my arms around his chest and rested my head against his shoulder. His arms were around me in a quick moment,
holding me tight like Oliver’s always did. He buried his face in the crook between my neck and my shoulder. He was silent. We both were.

If I closed my eyes and didn’t breathe, I could pretend it was him. Sort of.

We sat that way for a long while, holding each other, until I finally said, “How is lunch going to help our situation?” I straightened, pulling myself free of his grip.

He dropped his arms
, and I scooted away, sitting cross legged and facing him.

Even though I knew it was actually Oliver seeing me right then, I was thankful
I’d worn jammie pants to bed the previous night instead of only wearing a tank top and my underwear like I’d wanted. Even so, I folded my arms over my chest to hide my braless-ness.

He shrugged. “I doubt it will,” he said, then a little smile picked at the corner of his mouth, and Carter’s blue eyes brightened even more. “But I wouldn’t mind having another burger.” His smile grew, and I couldn’t help returning it.

After I got ready for the day, Oliver and I headed to the college. I had only one class, but Carter was still carrying a full load. He’d given Oliver his schedule so Oliver could stay on top of Carter’s classes while Carter (in Oliver’s body) was sitting behind a desk, pretending to work.

Yeah, Oliver was the lucky one—note the sarcasm. I mean, seriously, when compared, Oliver had a much better quality of life, and at this point, poor Oliver was getting a healthy dose of reality. The reality of how crappy Carter’s life could be.

Let’s just hope they’re switched back to themselves before Oliver has to experience the chicken suit on a personal level…

I went to my class while Oliver headed off for his (Carter’s).
He’d already missed one—or maybe more, I didn’t know Carter’s schedule by heart—that morning, so we figured Kiera would ream my poor boyfriend as soon as she saw him. He’d already received a few texts from her questioning his whereabouts.

After my astronomy class, Felix was waiting for Oliver and me in the faculty lot. Carter was with him.

Carter, as Oliver, opened the back passenger door for me as we got close, giving up the front seat to “Carter,” making it look like all was right in our world. “Oliver” slid in beside me, closing the door as he did so.

The Carter in the front seat, who was actually Oliver, glanced back at me for a moment. I wondered what he was thinking. I was curious if he had looked back to see if I was holding hands with his body
…or something more. At least I wasn’t kissing the Oliver beside me. It had just about killed me knowing Oliver was behind the lips that had kissed Kiera the previous day. I imagined he’d be none too happy if it was me doing the same with the other Oliver.

However, Kiera was clueless. She had no idea Carter wasn’t Carter, but I knew it wasn’t my Oliver beside me. If I kissed him, I would be kissing Carter. Which, if you counted the previous morning when I
didn’t know it was him, we’d done more than kiss…

At that thought, I
swallowed back the rising bile.

On the way to the brewery for lunch, Felix told the three of us that
he’d been in contact with Melody, and that she was also looking for a solution to our problem. Then he had to explain who Melody was to Carter.

Felix assured us that we could trust
Melody. Then he had to explain to Carter that even though Melody was Mr. Morgan’s daughter, she was trustworthy. I finished by telling him what Oliver had told me about Mr. Morgan—about how he wasn’t really a traitor.

Carter nodded, his eyes taking on a distant look as he processed all of this information.

At the brewery, Oliver excitedly ordered something he couldn’t normally eat. I was glad that food was helping get him through our situation, but if it lasted much longer, Carter’s body would soon be several sizes larger.

I was sitting across from Felix, beside Carter who was in my boyfriend’s body, and he was sitting across from himself. Confusing, huh? Don’t I know it!

I was still having a hard time with the Oliver sitting beside me. It was easier for me to handle the fact my boyfriend was in Carter’s body, than it was for me to deal with the fact I’d had…sex with Carter. Granted, he had been in my boyfriend’s body at the time, but still. I could hardly even look him in the eye. I was just so mortified over the whole thing! I mean, Carter had seen parts of me and done things to me only Oliver should ever see and do…

Swallowing more rising vomit
…

I wondered how Oliver was handling this particular detail so well. Had he said something to Carter in private? Had he already confirmed that, once returned to themselves, he would end Carter? Or did he not feel the same about me without his body? Was he not as protective?